The brutal chill is leaving. How many cold exposure calls did Kansas City record?
As the weekend ushers in warmer weather, it comes on the heels of Kansas City enduring a week of bone-chilling temperatures and digging out from yet another snowstorm, leading to an uptick in cold weather injuries.
Temperatures bottomed out Thursday at 10 degrees below zero, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. And snow plows are still scraping streets clean after Tuesday’s storm dropped 2 to 4 inches of snow across the metro.
Under those conditions, from Monday through noon Thursday, Kansas City Fire Department medical crews responded to 65 cold exposure calls for issues like frostbite and hypothermia, Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said.
With the sorts of brutal conditions the region saw this week, the department will see an an uptick in calls from those living outdoors, he said. Those who work outdoors in construction or public service jobs are also at risk, he noted.
“With the extreme temperatures that we’ve had this week, where we’re talking down around zero and wind chills in the negatives and even actual temperatures down in the negative numbers, you can start feeling symptoms of hypothermia and frostbite in a matter of 20, 30 minutes,” he said. “Prolonged exposure’s only going to make that worse.”
In conditions like those Kansas City saw this week, exposed skin can start to see the initial signs of frostbite quickly, he said.
“If you factor in if your clothing gets damp or wet with the snow, that’s only going to increase the likelihood that you could suffer from the effects of hypothermia,” he said.
Kansas City spokesman Ryan McMonigle said Friday morning city crews are continuing to plow and salt roads with a focus on hitting neighborhoods hard.
“Snow Command says everything is going according to plan, with the biggest challenge being cold temperatures,” he said. “Final clean-up operations will start (Saturday).”
Between Friday, Feb. 14 and mid-day Thursday, Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department crews responded to five cold-related calls, said department spokesman Scott Schaunaman.
Despite below-zero wind chills, Wednesday night’s Sporting KC match drew a robust crowd to Children’s Mercy Park to see soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF. Bundled-up fans huddled around warmers, stomped their feet and stood on cardboard patches to ward off the chill. The stands emptied quickly after the game’s final whistle.
One fan was given cold-related treatment and was able to return to their seat for the remainder of the game, team spokesman Rob Thomson said. One person who fell outside the stadium was taken to a hospital for treatment, Schaunaman said.
Said Thomson: “Our canopy roof shields a lot of the elements, we had heaters set up around the concourse, free hand warmers provided, our games only last two hours and the weather did not sneak up on anybody, so people were very prepared.”
