The York Fire, the largest wildfire so far this year in California (USA), is raging in the state’s Mojave National Reserve – Photo: AFP
In this vast country spread across three time zones, the weather is always harsh and changeable. Winter is six months long, snow is falling everywhere, and it is cold and numb. Summers are extremely hot. In the spring there are storms with wind and rain. Only autumn is the most beautiful and peaceful.
hot as “steamer”
The whole world is burning with the return of El Nino. For the past few months, fires have been burning across much of the United States. July and August are always two incredibly hot months. The Northeast, where I live, seems to be quiet due to thunderstorms with lightning every afternoon.
The rain cools the air at night, but it is a torture during the day when the humidity in the air is very high (sometimes up to 80%), raising the outdoor temperature by 5-10oC.
As soon as she stepped out of the house in the 33 degree Celsius afternoon sun in Washington DC, the mother’s sweat flowed like a bath. The feeling of taking one step is like suffocating in one step. My company has an unwritten rule, whenever the temperature is (estimated) around 100oF (about 38oC), outdoor workers have to go inside and find a place to hide.
In summer New York welcomes a large number of visitors from all over the world. Standing in the middle of downtown Manhattan, the hot sun shines down on thousands of glass skyscrapers, reflecting below, plus the humidity in the air is high, creating a giant autoclave.
People rarely drive in New York. Mainly walk or take the metro. But in terms of old, dirty, smelly New York subway is on top. Just imagine that you are getting off, taking a train to work or going out and want to faint. The smell of dampness, along with sweat and human vapors emanating from all sides, became a terrible obsession. It is not hard to see rats running everywhere.
Visit once, won’t want to go back. On the West Coast, many county governments in California now send letters to every household every year ordering a ban on wastewater because it is the largest agricultural state.
In the summer, Vietnamese people often store dishwashing liquid for watering plants or flushing the toilet. Take shower according to shift instead of shower. Hollywood superstars’ mansions in Beverly Hills are fined almost every year for watering the lawn.
The reservoirs are still full due to the floods at the beginning of the year. My friend Quinn Lan said that no paper has been sent this year, but it will happen because the summer is starting to get worse as the wildfires in California and Nevada get worse.
150 square miles of Joshua Tree National Park have been burned and may never be replenished.
To the south, the city of Miami in the state of Florida is peaceful enough for beachgoers from around the world. But the sky has always been above 100oF for a full month. The sea breeze could not cool the heat, so the “snowbirds” (a term for the rich in the north in winter or those headed to Florida to escape the cold) immediately headed back north.
sales are slow due to the heat
Unlike the hot and humid Northeast, the two states of Texas and Arizona have desert and sub-desert climates, so summers are awfully dry. For the past few months, the temperature in Texas has always been above 35oC, causing hot winds to blow like fire in the face. Those with money can travel, return to Vietnam to visit family, otherwise stay and suffer.
Houston is known as a shopping and dining paradise, but now people are afraid to go out or go to restaurants. Families with young children do not want to go anywhere. It can bear when the outside temperature is close to 40oC, the temperature inside the car will exceed 50oC. No air conditioner can handle it.
Mr. Thai, the owner of a deli restaurant in the heart of Bellaire City (Texas), has been feeling lethargic for the past few months due to the heat and inflation. Right after 7 p.m., the Belair area is full of Vietnamese people, like the Ba Dan Pagoda. There is lethargy in bulk. The parking lot is empty and vacant. Nail salons cry.
The market which used to open around 10 counters on weekends has now reduced to half. Food delivery apps like Uber and Doordarshan have also been affected by the temperature and prices. Thai shop shuts down food delivery app because it has to share. When drivers have to go long distances, they don’t earn much, it costs gas to open the air conditioner, but the tip goes down.
Vietnamese people like to grow tropical plants such as toad, guava, banana, gourd, squash, bitter gourd, but the heat is so strong that the plants dry up and die. No country can save it. Desert plants also suffer from devastating drought.
The way Americans and Vietnamese get relief from the heat is… go to some commercial center to use the air conditioner in their spare time because no one can afford the air conditioner at home. Workers working outdoors, such as construction and road work, will go to work overnight from after sunset until dawn.
Homeless people burst into tears as there was no shade or tents to beat the melting Arizona heat. In Phoenix, one can fry eggs in a pan on the sidewalk or on the hood of a car.
The scorching sun melts the asphalt, bends signs and kills people. According to NBC, 18-25 people have died of heat stroke in Arizona since April. In the southern states of America also more than 20 people died due to this reason. The news of children dying due to being left in cars was very sad news.
August has just begun and one thing is for sure that the heat is going to be even more intense and dreadful. Fortunately, the price of gasoline this year is much cheaper than last year, otherwise people will be even more tired when they fight the heat of the sky and will have to spend more money on gasoline.
“Inferno” Arizona
A corner of Arizona these days – Photo: NVCC
Thanh Tu, who has lived in Phoenix City (Arizona State) for almost 10 years, said that every summer is extremely hot, but the heat this year is scary. Not even a drop of rain has been seen since April. For more than a month now, Phoenix’s F is in the triple digits. Tucson has had 48 days above 100oF.
A few days ago, Phoenix had reached the threshold of 120oF (about 49oC), and 45oC is a daily thing. Lao Hawa in Vietnam is nothing for this Arizona heat. You just imagine the scene of the laborer sitting by the blacksmith, every time the fire flares up, slapping, raising eyebrows, you will understand the scene of the people of Arizona every time they walk out.
(TagstoTranslate)sunny
