Lincoln organizations offer water, shelter during heat wave

Dangerous conditions in Nebraska Wednesday, with a heat index of more than 100.

And any Lincolnites who were out and about in it weren’t alone in their struggle to keep cool.

Members of the Matt Talbot Kitchen were downtown Wednesday afternoon handing out free bottles of water.

“If we know that people are there homeless and they’re out in the heat, you know, we’re going to try to find them and get them something to drink,” outreach specialist Stanford Bradley said.

He said people are important and that they want to make sure anyone who’s out in the heat stays hydrated.

“We don’t want people having heat strokes, we don’t want people passing out,” Bradley said.  “We just believe in going out and taking care of the people and making sure that they survive through this crazy heat.”

That’s not all.  Some places are welcoming folks indoors to beat the heat.

The Belmont Recreation Center is staying open until 8 p.m. Friday just in case anyone outside needs a place to cool off.

“We try and make sure our neighborhoods are livable as the Department of Parks and Rec and so it’s just really important that we have people stay safe and are cool,” recreation center director Jean Gerlach said.

She said she also works with first aid and has seen what the heat does to people.

“Redness in the face, totally dehydrated, you can tell they’re hot but they’re not sweating,” Gerlach said.  “So those are some signs that the body is not okay.”

That’s what they want to prevent.

Again, the Belmont Recreation Center is staying open until 8 p.m. thru Friday.

The Matt Talbot Kitchen said they’ll go back to handing out water downtown Thursday from 1:30-3 p.m.