Options for relief from the current heatwave are evidently plentiful in Fulton.
The Callaway County Emergency Management Agency hosted temporary cooling centers around Fulton. Our House shelter for the homeless has decided to open its doors today to those in need of relief from the heat. The current heatwave predicted heat indexes as high as 107 degrees.
Pam Phelps specializes in working with disaster volunteer programs with the EMA. Phelps explained the EMA determines the need for these temporary cooling centers based off of the different phone calls they receive.
Phelps managed a cooling center on Thursday and Friday at the Southside Baptist Church on Country Meadows in the west side of town. As of mid-afternoon Friday, the cooling center at the church had not been utilized by anyone.
"I don't have a concern that no one's showed up," Phelps explained. "I'd like to think that nobody's needed to use it."
The EMA's temporary cooling centers do not provide overnight or long-term housing.
The church offered its gym as the designated cooling center giving access to its kitchen, bathrooms and showers to those in need. Phelps explained the determination for the cooling center's location had to do with the fact there are already resources in downtown Fulton, as well as the church being by "low-income apartments."
"We have several subsidized housing units in this area, and I'm sure most of them have air. But if something were to happen, we are within walking distance," Phelps said.
With temperatures anticipated to drop back into the low-to-mid 80s next week, EMA's Director Michelle Kidwell does not anticipate there will be a need for its cooling centers next week.
"If something were to change, we would be glad to open one up for whoever would need it," Kidwell said.