Heat curse and cooling down: Döbeln children conquer the city pool!

Heat curse and cooling down: Döbeln children conquer the city pool!

Hot days in Döbeln: The temperatures climbed to record highs of 36.5 degrees on Wednesday, July 2nd. These weather extremes make our little ones especially active and at the same time put a lot of pressure on construction site workers. 35 children from the after-school care center at Döbeln Ost Elementary School had already stood in line for over half an hour on Wednesday morning to enjoy the long-awaited cooling off in the city pool. With a water temperature of a pleasant 25 degrees, the pool was a great attraction. Entry to the family day ticket is a reasonable 15 euros, which didn't stop many visitors. While around 500 bathers are counted on a normal summer day, 350 people flocked to the facility in the first two hours. But the long waiting time of up to 45 minutes met with criticism. “A second cash register would be desirable,” said one of the new visitors.

Near the outdoor swimming pool, the construction workers from LFT Ostrau are working on Otto-Johnsen-Straße in the blazing sun without any shade. Boss Reinhard Fischer has adjusted his working hours after the heat: the workers start earlier and can take breaks at any time in extreme heat or even end their working day early. “We give our employees the opportunity to retreat to the construction trailers if necessary,” says Fischer. The construction site has been running since the end of April and the construction work for the new sewer as well as the drinking water and gas pipes have already been completed. Everything should be completed by the end of the year.

Dealing with the heat

The extreme temperatures not only bring challenges, but also new ways of thinking. In Döbeln, those responsible are thinking about how hot days can be made more bearable. Given the temperatures of up to 32.5 degrees in the previous days, many shops, restaurants and cafés in the city center were only sparsely attended. But ice cream parlors, especially on Breite Straße, were very busy. Varieties such as watermelon and fruit ice cream are particularly in demand. Many people use the cooler evening hours to visit the city.

The topic is particularly important with regard to the health of the population. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, states and municipalities in Germany are responsible for implementing heat measures and heat action plans. These are intended to help people be better prepared for heat waves and protect citizens. The effectiveness of these plans is becoming increasingly relevant, especially after the heat wave in the summer of 2023, which killed around 7,600 people.

Family-friendly measures

The changes to the leisure activities in the after-school care center are effective - forest days have been replaced by the use of lawn sprinklers on the premises to still enable the children to play outside. Many of the little swimmers bring balls and water toys with them, while some already have their silver swimming badge. This means you can still enjoy nature despite the heat.

It remains to be seen how the city of Döbeln will continue to deal with the record temperatures. The search for creative solutions and the use of adaptation strategies are needed more than ever to maintain quality of life in extreme weather conditions.

For the latest developments you can access the reports Sächsische.de and DNN track. The Federal Ministry of Health offers an enormous wealth of information on heat measures that are important for municipalities on its website: Federal Ministry of Health.de.