People seek refuge at pools during heat wave

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By Alanna Autler, Reporter - bio | email

People took the opportunity to dive into the pool at Shawnee State Park on Saturday.

The excessive heat warning did not stop these swimmers -- many who lost power during the past week.

Temperatures soared up to 107 degrees in some places within Kanawha County on Saturday.

And some people said they'd rather sit in the sun than be stuck inside — especially considering the string of power outages that rocked the region this week.

"If there is a power outage, you need to be near the water or at least somewhere that has air conditioning," said Debbie Jones, a Charleston resident. "It's just too dangerous to sit in the house today and burn up. We're sweating just standing here for two minutes. So you definitely need to be somewhere where it's cool."

Shawnee State Park is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the weekends.

For a complete list of Kanawha County public pools, visit http://kcprc.com/swimming.htm.

Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children under 12 years of age.