Houston's excessive heat suddenly rises in emergency room-related visits, study shows

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A new study from Harris County Public Health reveals how heat-related illness during Houston's summer months is on the rise. The study looks at heat-related emergency room visits and deaths in the county from 2019 to 2023 with an emphasis on how heat impacts marginalized and vulnerable populations. Examples include those who work outdoors, children, and older adults.

This report from the Harris County Public Health shows a correlation between the number of emergency room visits and high heat. This is when the temperature and dewpoint combine to lead to life-threatening heat index values. Specifically, heat-related emergency room visits are up 329% in the county since 2019.

The past two summers saw these peaks in ER visits because of the heat but for different reasons. In 2023, there was a steady increase throughout the summer to a peak in heat-related ER visits in August. This was at the tail end of Houston's record heatwave and when afternoon highs were consecutive in the triple digits. As for 2024, it's a sharp incline in mid-July. This is when temperatures spiked after Hurricane Beryl and thousands of people were still without power for several days, if not weeks.

"One of the findings was that older adults accounted for 39% of heat-related illnesses," Dr. Jennifer Kiger said. "Like in Hurricane Beryl, which had a higher percentage than during a normal summer. Our fire marshal's office has used that information to make some changes to the fire code to require nursing homes to have backup generators."

On Tuesday, ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith spoke with the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office. Starting on Jan. 1, assisted living facilities in Harris County will be required to have backup generators. The change in the fire code was approved by commissioner's court last month. Those facilities will have until the end of 2025 to comply. This does not apply to nursing homes, which are already required by law to have generators if they were built after 1996.

And while experts from Harris County Public Health acknowledge that the increase in awareness and monitoring may play a role in their findings, one of the ways climate change is seen here in Southeast Texas is through our hot summers. And four summers within the past five years rank within the top 10 warmest on record.

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