Impassioned appeals persuaded Orange County commissioners Tuesday to immediately lower the scorching temperature at which county cooling centers will open this summer.

The threshold had been a scalding 108 degrees.

“That’s waaaay too high and a ridiculous number,” said Val Mobley, clad in a Support Orlando Shelters t-shirt, as she urged the board to reduce the threshold. “We need to not overburden our hospitals…because people are suffering from extreme heat.”

After the appeals, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings broke with protocol which typically requires a staff report and advance notice to the public of a proposed change in county policy. He asked the board to take action, calling the matter “a public safety and a public health issue.”

They unanimously adopted a new threshold of 103 degrees.

“We are quickly approaching the summer months. It’s going to get hot,” the mayor said.

Mobley called the lower figure “more normal” but still not great, though it is among the lowest in the Sunshine State.

She said people without shelter in Florida often feel uncomfortable outside when temperatures top 90 degrees.

“It’s only going to get worse, and we all know that, so let’s do what we can,” she said.

The thermometer doesn’t trigger opening of cooling centers. The heat index does.

According to the National Weather Service, “The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.  This has important considerations for the human body’s comfort.”

In July 2024, the National Weather Service placed all of Central Florida under a daytime heat advisory, prompting Orange County to unveil a “heat plan” that provided free bus rides to air-conditioned public spaces, including county-run community centers, when the temperature is excessive.

Excessive heat warnings are generally issued by the National Weather Service within 12 hours of forecasts that predict the heat index will reach 105° or higher for at least two consecutive days and night-time air temperatures are not expected to drop below 75° F.

The index also considers the duration of a heat wave because longer hot spells generally cause more health issues.

On its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests drinking water and staying in air-conditioned spaces to blunt the effects of extreme heat, which result each year in numerous preventable illnesses and more than 700 heat-related deaths.

At Tuesday’s meeting, other shelter advocates repeated Mobley’s appeal, including Michael Perkins.

He likened a triple-digit heat index to more feared weather events like hurricanes.

“We have thousands of people who have no business being outside in this type of weather,” he said. “We need to increase communication and diversify the ways in which people find out about where they can go to get out of the heat and be safe. We also need to lower the shelter barriers for people who have pets and bring their belongings with them, who maybe just need to lay down and rest a bit.”

Carla Cox, director of housing and community engagement for the Christian Service Center, said extreme heat further complicates life for people without housing. “Several years ago, clients suddenly came in asking for Band-Aids,” she said. “When we asked why, they showed us they has burned their feet on hot pavement and sidewalks while trying to dry out socks wet from afternoon rains.”

The center ordered flip-flops and more socks.

She said the center urged the county to create an emergency management plan for extreme heat, including cooling centers.

The issue of protecting vulnerable populations from extreme heat doesn’t draw intense news coverage like hurricanes and tropical storms do because heat episodes, while often longer lasting and deadlier, generally don’t leave a trail of obvious damage in their wake, Cox said.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com