CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Montgomery County and the surrounding areas have been put under a heat advisory to last through this weekend due to temperatures reaching 100 degrees or higher every day.
 
Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States, resulting in 350 fatalities each year.  Excessive heat claims more lives each year than floods, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes combined.
 
“It is critical to heed the recommended safety precautions during this major heart wave,” said Rick Shanklin, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Paducah.  “This is one of the worst heat waves to impact our region in the last century.”
 
The western branch of the Kentucky Weather Preparedness Committee has provided the following tips for the public during this time:
 
Child Safety Tips:
 
-Make sure your child’s safety seat and safety belt buckles aren’t too hot before securing your child in a safety restraint system, especially when your car has been parked in the heat.
-Never leave your child unattended in a vehicle, even with the windows down.
-Teach children not to play in, on or around cars.
-Always lock car doors and trunks, even at home, and keep keys out of children’s reach.
-Always make sure all children have left the car when you reach your destination.  Don’t leave sleeping infants in the car.
 
Adult Safety Tips
 
-Reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities until the coolest time of the day.  Children, seniors and anyone with health problems should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.
-Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing to reflect heat and sunlight.
-Avoid foods like meat and other proteins that increase metabolic heat production and also increase water loss.
-Drink plenty of water, non-alcoholic and decaffeinated fluids.  People with epilepsy or heart, kidney or liver disease, are on fluid restrictive diets or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a physician before increasing their consumption of fluids.  Limit alcoholic beverages and caffeinated beverages.
-Spend more time in air-conditioned places.  Air conditioning in homes and other buildings markedly reduces danger from the heat. 
-Don’t get too much sun.  Sunburn reduces your body’s ability to dissipate heat.
-Do not take salt tablets unless specified by a physician.
 
For more heat safety information visit http://nws.noaa.gov/om/heat or http://ggweather.com/heat.
 
For the latest forecast of the Clarksville area visit http://www.clarksvillenow.com/topic/weather.php.



For the latest news in and around Clarksville, refresh ClarksvilleNow.com.
To submit news, e-mail news@clarksvillenow.com.
To get breaking news directly to your mobile phone, text NEWS to 77000. (Standard texting rates may apply.)
Stay in touch! Sign up for the ClarksvilleNow.com Newsletter today!