Cyprus Continues to Sizzle in Summer Heat

With the thermometer again registering temperatures above 40C this week and a blistering heat wave last month, we cannot possibly imagine living a life without air conditioning.

Whether it is to avoid waking up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat or to avoid showering five times a day, the air conditioning unit has become part of the furniture in nearly every household.

Well come to think of it, air conditioners have not been in existence for that long. Indeed, it is a relatively modern revelation. It was never as easily available to us as it is nowadays, and only the last decade has seen air conditioning units become so popular and affordable.

So this begs the question: what did people do in the past when the island began to bake in the searing heat?

And that is the exact question the Sunday Mail posed to a number of elderly Nicosia citizens taking refuge from the heat during a scorching day at an Old People’s Centre, temporarily housed at the headquarters of the Orfeas Club in the old town.

While the replies given regarding the reasons behind the heat wave varied, the response to one particular question was resounding.

“There was never such heat when we were younger. I have never experienced such heat in my entire life,” a 79-year-old woman said when asked if they had faced a similar situation in the past.

The people at the centre maintained that 50 years ago, they managed to survive without the luxuries so prevalent in households nowadays.

“Quite a few years ago there were no air conditioners or even fans, but we survived because it was a much more pleasant atmosphere without so much humidity in the air,” an 80-year-old said. “The problem now is that everyone has become so accustomed to these air conditioners that they simply cannot go out any more.”

The 80-year-old from Nicosia admitted that they had to be especially careful in the heat due to their age; three people above 70 lost their lives in last month’s sweltering heat wave.

“We are at an age where we have to be extremely wary. At home, I have a fan and it protects me, we do what we can to avoid getting too hot,” she added.

A 75-year-old refugee from Famagusta blamed the extreme temperatures on the amount of development that has taken place on the island in the last few years.

“Back in the village, the roads were dirt tracks, there were no cars, no mopeds, we used to move around by bike and on foot most of the time. During the summer, however, my father used to go out with the garden hose and water the road, and this cooled down the area. Come to think of it, not that many people had fridges and the food still managed to survive. But still, this sort of heat wave is something totally new.”

The last week of June saw temperatures rise seven degrees above norms for the period, while from Monday through to Saturday of that week, the temperatures remained above 40C in the capital. While last week the heat wave abated, this week the thermometers again nudged over 40C in the capital.

According to Loukia Damianou from the Nicosia Municipality, which operates the Centre, they welcome everybody that wanted to stay away from the heat, while also giving them the opportunity to socialise.

“In actual fact, this is not a Centre especially for the heat wave, but it is an area where old people can gather together and spend some time under the air conditioning. We take good care of them and they are happy to be here,” she said.

Damianou added that from July onwards the Centre opens on a daily basis and it was expected that by October they would be ready to move into another Nicosia Municipality building.

Sixty-four-year-old Loucas, known as ‘Loucas of Orfeas’, said the Club was happy to help out the older residents of Nicosia.

“These conditions of extreme temperature are extremely worrying for people that are above a certain age and so we are doing what we can to help them. Orfeas has always been a hospitable club. We have an agreement with the Municipality for our building to be used until their new home is built,” he said.

“A lot of work goes into this and the Municipality is doing a great job. Of course, dealing with elderly people has its problem, but what job doesn’t?”