The Story Of Chicago’s July 1995 Heat Wave

This week marks 30 years since a blistering, oppressive heat wave boiled the Midwest, hitting the Chicago area the hardest. Temperatures reached a height of 106 degrees, and the heat index soared to the 120s. The heat – combined with a number of overwhelmed city agencies and a buckling power grid – would contribute to the deaths of 739 people. Reset looks back at the summer of 1995 and digs into whether Chicago is ready today for similar heat waves with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg, author of the book “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.” For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.