East Bay residents look for ways to beat the heat
ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- Triple digit temperatures sent many people in Contra Costa County to cool off in the shade or crowd into public pools. Once the pool at Contra Loma Reservoir was full, people went scrambling across the county for another option.
"We were driving in and it said pool was closed, so we just kind of turned around," said Antioch resident Ruen Rodriguez. "And our second option would have been the Antioch Water Park but there was a previous mishap."
So instead, he and his family went to a park in Brentwood and stood in a really long line along with Pittsburg resident Penne Mathey.
"Today's like, I think the car said it's 103 already," she said. "It's not even the hottest part of the day yet."
Escaping the heat at pools and cooling stations is the best option for everyone in these triple digit temperatures.
Even field workers wrapped up at most area farms by 10 a.m. to get out of the heat.
But some vegetables are at risk.
As little as 10 hours of triple digit temperatures can dry out corn pollen and affect the crops.
Glenn Stonebarger with G&S Farms says dried pollen could be a problem for future sweet corn harvests.
"In 10 days or so the kernel starts to form and you would just see a kernel that's missing it wouldn't be a 100 percent filled out," he said.
Right now their product is pretty much perfect and it's being shipped off to market as usual. But he is also keeping an eye on his canning tomato crop.
"If you start to get over 101 or 102 for continuous days it's really stressful on the tomato plant," said Stonebarger.
He's hoping this heat doesn't last much longer because he can't even cool his crops with extra water because of the ongoing drought.
VIDEO: SJ Fire Department prepares for sizzling temps, heat danger
A list of potential cooling centers in Contra Costa County is available at cchealth.org/heat/cool-locations.php.
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