Public Health Watch

“This heat now is a different heat. It’s hard to keep up with it.”

At 87 years old, Sherman Boyer lives inside a piece of living history: a century-old home in Galveston, passed down from her great-grandfather. For decades, sea breezes through open windows were enough to cool the house.

Today, extreme heat tells a very different story. Days when temperatures regularly exceed 100°F are increasing, and hundreds of Galveston residents without air conditioning — and those who have it but can’t afford to run it — need affordable solutions.

This is the third installment in an ongoing series, “Powerless,” from Public Health Watch that examines how rising temperatures and skyrocketing electricity costs are placing Texans in danger.

https://publichealthwatch.org/2026/09/29/galveston-heat-air-conditioning-energy-electricity/

In Galveston, Demand for Affordable Cooling Is High, But Resources Are Few - Public Health Watch

From our series "Powerless": Inner-city neighborhoods face limitations on resources as "urban heat islands" contribute to rising temperatures.

‘Unbearable’: Fighting the Heat in Urban Communities Can Be Costly - Public Health Watch Inner-city neighborhoods face limitations on resources as ‘urban heat islands’ contribute to rising temperatures

“People were panicking… the roads just swelled up.”

In 2005, Southeast Texas witnessed one of the worst-executed mass evacuations in American history. Have disaster response agencies learned their lesson since?

ICYMI: https://publichealthwatch.org/2026/08/20/galveston-hurricane-rita-storm-evacuation/

Hurricanes Routinely Threaten the Texas Coast. But Mass Evacuations Pose Risks of Their Own. - Public Health Watch

PHW reporter Salina Arredondo on 's Central Valley Daily discussing her most recent story on planned cuts to state-funded immigrant health care

Sept. 18: Why Dental Benefits Are On The Chopping Block For Some Immigrants In California California has long allowed many groups of immigrants, including those without legal status, access to Medicaid. But policy changes at the state and federal level have led to lingering confusion among the immigrant community. Today, we speak about the mixed messages and fallout with Public Health Wa...

Some seniors in the Rio Grande Valley must choose between food and air conditioning during the hottest months because of rising energy costs. "We either pay the electric bill or we eat," 80-year-old Arturo Gomez tells his wife. Part 2 of "Powerless."

Senior Citizens in the Rio Grande Valley Are Paying the Price for Oppressive Heat - Public Health Watch Summer heat is becoming more deadly for the elderly in South Texas with record-breaking temperatures and rising costs for electricity. This is the installment in an ongoing series, "Powerless."

The latest in our series "Powerless": For elderly people in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the combined stress of rising heat and electricity costs can be deadly.

Senior Citizens in the Rio Grande Valley Are Paying the Price for Oppressive Heat - Public Health Watch Summer heat is becoming more deadly for the elderly in South Texas with record-breaking temperatures and rising costs for electricity. This is the installment in an ongoing series, "Powerless."

A survey of residents in five counties finds costs, access and delays in getting treatment are putting people at risk.

‘Distressing’: East Texas Residents Struggle to Find Mental Health Services - Public Health Watch A survey of residents in five counties finds costs, access and delays in getting treatment are putting people at risk.

Black lung rates in Appalachia are high as the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick Rates are now the highest they've been in nearly 50 years among veteran coal miners. Mining experts blame toxic silica dust, now more common in mines.

NEW series debuts today: “Powerless,” which examines how rising temperatures and skyrocketing electricity costs are placing Texans in danger.

As Texans’ Electricity Costs Soar and Temperatures Rise, a Public Health Crisis Brews - Public Health Watch This is the first installment of “Powerless,” a series from Public Health Watch examining how rising temperatures and skyrocketing electricity costs are placing Texans in danger.

From Stateline: Derrick Clark, of rural MS, has Type 2 diabetes but no health insurance. He had to drop Obamacare when enhanced subsidies ended this year. His income is small yet he's ineligible for Medicaid. He joins many more MS residents now struggling to find care.

Cheaper Health Insurance Changed Their Lives. Then It Went Away. - Public Health Watch The end of federal aid pushed millions off Obamacare, but Mississippians have been hit especially hard.