Dealing with Oklahoma's ' hot' summers

The heat is on in eastern Oklahoma. Wednesday afternoon, the heat index was more than 100 degrees. <br/><br/>News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says on days like Wednesday, a good, running air conditioner

Wednesday, June 8th 2005, 10:21 am

By: News On 6

The heat is on in eastern Oklahoma. Wednesday afternoon, the heat index was more than 100 degrees.

News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says on days like Wednesday, a good, running air conditioner is more important than ever. And for some people it can be a matter of life and death.

Its days like Wednesday, which the Tulsa Weather Coalition gears up for. Volunteers like Sherry Thurman bring out new air conditioners for folks who may have health complications due to the heat.

Marian Bruner has relied on the Weather Coalition for years to keep her house livable in the summer heat. The Weather Coalition has already delivered 75 units, and plans to install 20 more this weekend.

This is also the busy season for folks like Don Lightner at Lightner Heat and Air. He says Wednesday's the day business really starts to boil. "The first day it hits 90. Look out. Everybody wants it right then. A week before, they wouldn't let you come out and look at it, but the day it hits 90, they want you out there yesterday."

Don says you should do some checks to your home air conditioner to make sure everything's up and running. You want to check the copper tubing that runs out the back of your air conditioner and make sure it's not frosting over.

And you should hose off on the sides of your unit, in case it's clogged with leaves or other things that could've blown into, because this is not the time to be without air conditioning.