Chicago reflects on 1995 heat wave tragedy

CHICAGO (WGN) – Dozens of people gathered in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood Tuesday night to remember hundreds of people who died during the July 1995 heat wave.

At the Columbus Park Refectory, Mayor Brandon Johnson and many other groups gathered for a screening of an award-winning documentary, followed by a panel discussion all centered around the tragedy that unfolded across the Midwest 30 years ago this week.

“Thirty years ago, Chicago experienced one of the most devastating climate-related tragedies in our nation’s history,” Johnson said.

Five days in July of 1995 cost more than 700 Chicagoans their lives. Temperatures spiked on July 13, 1995, reaching 106 degrees. The humidity made it feel almost 20 degrees hotter.

“Many of those lives that were lost were Black, elderly, low income residents living in communities that have been ignored and under-resourced,” Johnson said.

By Day 3 of the heat wave, the morgue’s 220-bed capacity was exceeded by the hundreds. Refrigerated trucks had to be brought in to store bodies.

The tragedy exposed a range of vulnerabilities, including inadequate warnings and responses in a city where social status and zip codes impacted how communities fared in the disaster.

An excerpt from the documentary shown Tuesday night detailed what went wrong. Panelists and researchers who’ve developed new data-driven tools, such as the Heat Vulnerability Index, also spoke, aiming to help guide equitable city planning going forward and save lives in future extreme weather conditions.

“Every single community is at risk. We are all vulnerable in each community and collectively as a city,” Northwestern University Professor Dr. Jennifer Chan said.

The Diffusing Disasters Working Group at Northwestern University also aims to mitigate the adverse effects of extreme weather events in Chicago. More information on them and their research can be found here.