Triple-digit temperatures and a dwindling supply of bottled water at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen may leave the city’s less fortunate parched next week.
Beka Vonnoh, case worker for the Community Kitchen, said its water supply has fallen to 600 bottles – about one day’s supply – to hand out to the hundreds of clients who come by daily.
“There’s just a desperate need for it when I have clients who walk for miles with their children just to drop off a job application,” she said.
So far, the kitchen has gone through 16,500 bottles of donated water this summer, she said.
And if being outside wasn’t unbearable enough this week, it’s only going to get hotter in coming days.
Neal Pascal, meteorologist with WRCB-Channel 3, said temperatures again may reach 100 degrees by Monday with a heat index of 105 to 110. There is the chance of a heat advisory early next week, he said.
The kitchen provides shelter daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but Vonnoh said most clients take water with them when they leave.
“After 5, if they don’t have any water and no money to buy any, then they just don’t have water for the rest of the day usually,” she said.
The medical consequences for staying in the sun without enough water go beyond dehydration. If someone is recovering from an illness, the heat could slow his or her recovery or cause a relapse, Vonnoh said.
Kim Lett, a registered dietitian in Chattanooga, said the amount of water needed for each person would depend on their size and age.
“I would recommend a minimum of eight cups of water each day,” Lett said.