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To: greenspirit who wrote (7649)	9/11/2003 5:01:47 PM
From: Elsewhere	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793840

I also believe one of the factors is the unavailability of clean "free" public water. It was really hot for a couple of weeks, at least for somebody born in Europe. People from Africa, the Middle East or India may be accustomed to other temperatures but 40 °C (about 104 F) is a lot. The heat wave was unprecedented and the infrastructure wasn't able to handle it well. Very few buildings have air conditioning. Most of the deaths in France were elderly people - 70, 80, 90 and beyond. Thirst in elderly people frequently doesn't match the physical need. Many of them probably didn't drink enough and their circulatory system/heart just failed to cope with the conditions. 10,000 French victims of the heat might sound a lot but on average about 0.1% of the population die each month, in France that's around 50,000. Tough medical conditions easily raise this figure. The flu season last winter, for instance, killed 20,000 people in Germany. Life is dangerous!