MOST SHELTERS STAY EMPTY

Few residents sought refuge from the sweltering heat Wednesday in emergency shelters set up by the American Red Cross in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Two shelters in Cape Girardeau and another in Jackson opened Tuesday and are scheduled to remain open today.

Three elderly residents took advantage of the shelter set up in the Cape Senior Center Wednesday. But as of mid-afternoon Monday, the shelters at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau and the New McKendree Church Cox Hall in Jackson remained empty.

The centers are open from noon to 6 p.m.

A 49-year-old woman, who had complained of the heat, refused to go to the Osage Centre because she didn't want to be apart from her pet Chihuahua.

The woman also has two parakeets and two gerbils.

"We made arrangements to have the dog taken care of, but the arrangements didn't meet with her approval," said local Red Cross official Mary Burton.

Burton is executive director of the Southeast Missouri chapter of the American Red Cross.

Burton isn't dismayed that the shelters aren't being used.

She said the shelters were opened to help prevent heat emergencies.

"If they choose to use it, that's great," she said.

Cape Girardeau's two hospitals have treated only a few heat victims in recent days.

"People are trying to stay out of the heat," said St. Francis Medical Center spokesman Mike Simmons.

The National Weather Service has forecast a break in the scorching temperatures by Friday. If that occurs, the Red Cross will close the shelters, Burton said.

A heat advisory continued Wednesday in much of Missouri, with heat indexes slated to reach as high as 110 in some areas.

Temperatures were expected to dip into the 80s today, the Weather Service said.

The hot weather hasn't been out of the ordinary for this time of year, said Dr. Al Robertson, a retired Southeast Missouri State University meteorologist.

Robertson still keeps track of daily temperatures in Cape Girardeau.

"We are a fraction of a degree above normal for the month of July," he said.

The daily average temperature is 80 so far this month, one degree above normal, Robertson said.

Temperatures have approached 100 degrees, but they haven't reached it. On Tuesday, it reached a high of 98 degrees in Cape Girardeau.

Robertson said the area is far from having a record heat wave. The record high temperature for July in Cape Girardeau is 107 degrees, set in 1952.

Cape Girardeau has no weather records from the 1930s. But records in Jackson indicate that temperatures in this area reached as high as 117 degrees, Robertson said.

The oven-like conditions this month have been aided by the lack of rain.

The area has received 1.4 inches of rain this month, Robertson said. For the entire month of July, rainfall usually averages around 3.4 inches.

The hot weather has led to a peak demand for electricity as area residents have tried to stay cool.

In recent days, the heat wave has curtailed power for Southeast Missouri State University and the Lone Star cement plant.

The university and the cement plant have interruptible power. They receive power at a lower rate in exchange for agreeing to curtail electric usage during times of peak demand.

The university cut its usage on Monday and Tuesday, primarily by cutting back on the air conditioning. Employees also were asked to turn down office lights and use only essential equipment, said Al Stoverink, the university's facilities management director.

"It can get uncomfortable," Stoverink said Wednesday. In some buildings, the temperature gets as high as 80 degrees during such power curtailments.

Southeast curtailed power two or three days in May because of hot weather and three days last month, Stoverink said.

Typically, the power curtailment occurs during the day. "We can cool the buildings back down by evening," he said.

Southeast's power plant has a diesel generator. But it can only generate about 15 to 20 percent of the university's power needs.

The school is completing work on upgrading the power plant so the university will be able to generate most of the electricity needed to power the campus.

The steam turbine system could begin running by early to mid-August.

Southeast likely will continue to buy some power from AmerenUE, but it won't be enough to cause any problems in times of peak demand.

"We shouldn't have to be shutting down lights and shutting air conditioning down," said Stoverink.

Power curtailments haven't hurt Lone Star's operation. The power curtailments typically run from noon to 9 p.m.

"We basically shut equipment down," said plant manager Steve Leus. The plant has continued to operate during times of reduced power.

Leus said AmerenUE didn't restrict power to the plant Wednesday.