Outdoor activities continue despite North Texas heat advisory

KRUM, Texas - The first heat advisory of the summer in North Texas isn’t keeping everyone indoors.

Members of the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps spent Tuesday rehearsing outside at Krum High School all afternoon to get ready for an upcoming show.

The Denver-based Blue Knights travel all across the country to perform shows, so they’re used to different climates. But they still say there’s really no way to prepare for the Texas heat.

“It is far different. Our first four days, we dealt with snow. Now, we’re dealing with this 100-plus heat,” said Caleb Florence. “So it is far different than what we’re used to, but we’re going to make it work.”

But even with a heat advisory in effect and heat indices in the hundreds, the Blue Knights have a show in just two days to prep for.

“It’s very hard. They give us lots of breaks, but Texas heat is just something entirely different,” said David Johnson. “It’s different playing in 90-degree heat in Utah or something. But you come to Texas, it’s like 110 heat advisory. You just have to take breaks every half an hour because it’s so hot.”

There’s plenty of water, sunscreen and breaks to take on the long hours in the heat.

“Typically you might wake up at 8 or 9 a.m. and then you’ll practice for 12 hours a day. You’ll have three, four hour blocks every day out on the field, either working out or working on your visuals or playing,” Johnson said.

The Salvation Army activated 11 cooling stations across North Texas on Tuesday.

“Throughout the day, we have a lot of foot traffic especially in the summer months,” said Sarah Masih with the Salvation Army. “Folks are coming inside on a regular basis trying to get cooled down, water and AC.”

Coolers were filled with free bottles of water. The rec centers were frequented by folks who work outdoors.

The heat also affects roofers with Quick Roofing, who got a jump start on their day at around 7 a.m. in Lake Highlands, where crews are still in high demand from last month’s severe storms.

“It affects it tremendously because typically a job like this would be done in one day. But since it’s extreme heat, the guys can’t work as much on the roof because it’s so hot up there,” said Brian Hathaway. “If the heat index is 109 today, it’s probably gonna be like 150 up there.”

Employees stay off the roof from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Some urgent care officers are already seeing patients who are going in with severe dehydration.

The heat advisory for most of North Texas remains in effect until 7 p.m. Wednesday.