In Lewiston, Maine, organizers of a Juneteenth celebration made changes to prepare for the heat, including moving events indoors, shortening a parade and providing extra water, as precautions were enacted all over the state amid soaring temperatures.
Forecast maps show heat indexes climbing above 100 degrees in much of Maine on Wednesday, and in Caribou, near the northern tip of the state, the temperature is expected to hit 96 degrees, which would tie the highest temperature ever recorded there.
It’s been a few years since Maine has experienced a heat wave this extreme, according to Vanessa Corson, the Maine Emergency Management Agency’s public information officer.
In 2022, the state had a particularly wet summer, which followed a drought the year before. “It’s been this roller coaster every summer, where we’re not sure what to expect,” Ms. Corson said.
Around the state, cooling centers are opening in libraries, town halls, civic centers, Y.M.C.A.s, fire departments and other public buildings to give people a chance to escape the heat.
As of Wednesday morning, the Maine Emergency Management Agency website listed 58 cooling centers with plans to open at various times Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Rural areas of the state are of particular concern, Ms. Corson said, because the distance some people will have to drive to find a cooling center may deter them. In those cases, she said, people are encouraged to find any air-conditioned building nearby.
In Lewiston, Maine Inside Out, an arts-based nonprofit, hosts an annual Juneteenth festival that includes a parade, art and theater activities and an afternoon block party.
Noah Bragg, one of the co-directors of Maine Inside Out, said the event always employs a safety team, but this year its focus has turned to the heat.
During a walk-through of the event on Tuesday, Bragg said coordinators made the decision to move several scheduled events indoors. They also shortened the parade’s route so participants don’t have to spend as much time walking in the heat.
“We can continue parading in the park where there’s shade rather than the street where there isn’t,” Mr. Bragg said.
He also said the Juneteenth event will have extra water, cooling tents and kiddie pools available, and organizers are publicizing the location and hours of nearby cooling centers.
Mr. Bragg said he wasn’t sure whether the heat would affect turnout to the festival, but he hopes “people make the best choices for themselves.”
Last year’s Juneteenth event was on a rainy day, he said, so coordinators were hoping for better weather this year.
“I hoped we’d have a nice, sunny day,” he said. “We got what we were hoping for, to kind of an extreme.”
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