Cooling centers now open in Austin: How to find a location

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Cooling centers opened Tuesday in Austin with heat index values expected to range between 103°-113°, according to a City of Austin alert.

A heat advisory was in effect from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Central Texas. Tuesday afternoon highs were expected to be near 100°.

"Due to extreme heat, all Austin Parks and Library facilities will serve as cooling centers during normal operating hours," the city's alert reads.

Service animals will be permitted in the facilities.

The addresses and hours for Austin Public Library facilities and Austin Parks are listed online.

Severe temperatures audit

It's the first week the city will see consecutive triple digit days since an audit came out about the city's response to severe hot and cold weather.

The audit found the city's special operations plan for heat emergencies hadn't been updated since July 2020. But it also found that city facilities used for cooling centers were typically open during the most dangerous parts of the day, which has made them successful.

Still, the city's office of homeland security and emergency management said they're regularly looking at changes, "to make sure that we're allowing for any updates in heat related illness monitoring, data from the hospitals and from EMS and factoring that into how we operate and when we're open. We definitely want to make sure that we're open during the hottest part of the day," Aoife Longmore, deputy officer of the city office said.

How to sign up for emergency alerts

You can sign up for emergency alerts at ReadyCentralTexas.org.

The City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management partnered for the emergency preparedness app, the city's website states.

The Ready Central Texas app provides (according to the city website):

• News updates and warnings
• Preparedness resources
• Emergency plan checklists to help make sure you have what you need

The free app is available on Android and iOS devices.