CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It has gotten to the point where it can stay close to 90 degrees all night long, and that's prompting officials to be on alert for heat emergencies 24 hours a day.
It has been nearly one year since an elderly couple in Beeville was tragically found dead in their home. Police believe the deaths were heat-related.
When the bodies of 67-year-old Maria Vasquez and 80-year-old Jose Vasquez were found, police say the temperature was 120 degrees inside.
3NEWS talked with Beeville and Corpus Christi officials about the early summer-like temperatures and how people can find relief.
While Beeville doesn't have space for cooling centers, the Beeville First United Methodist Church is doing what it can.
"We try to do a couple of things," Pastor Adrienne Zermeno said. "One of the things we do is we open our doors in the mornings, 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday and we provide bottles of water, a cool bottle of water. People can come in our welcome center. Our doors are always open and they can just beat the heat for a little bit in that, you know as it gets to that hot part of the day."
Zermeno says there is no 24-hour shelter in the city, so for the church it depends on volunteers.
"Our doors open in the morning because that's when we have volunteers available, and last year we had a longer span we were available but our volunteer base this year is such that we're only open in the morning," she said.
City Emergency Services Coordinator Jace Johnson says the early heat has the City of Corpus Christi planning ahead for the long summer.
"The planning and community development department works with the shelters within the community to make sure that they're open and if necessary that they can make additional room for clients if needed," Johnson said.
He said people don't have to wait for an emergency to be declared before finding relief.
"If folks find themselves in a position that they're caught in the heat and they really need help, that they can reach out to the police or to the fire department or the planning community development and they'll be directed to a shelter that's prepared to act as a cooling center throughout the evening," Johnson said.
Beeville police officials say they do five to six welfare checks or more on residents each week during the summer. Zermeno said that's a good reminder to check on your friends and neighbors who may be most at risk to the heat.