City of Milan sets new policy to help citizens weather extreme heat

MILAN, Tenn. —  The city of Milan says it’s taking a proactive approach to our summer heat, adopting criteria of when it’ll open a cooling station for residents.

With the heat index soaring past 100 degrees, the FEMA emergency center opened Friday in Milan for anyone trying to stay cool.

“Some of them may not have adequate air conditioning,” Milan Fire Chief Steven Dillard said. “Using this fine facility that we have, we open it up on occasions to provide comfort for those.”

Mayor B.W. Beasley and Chief Dillard determined opening the center was the best thing for their citizens.

“I met with our fire chief this morning and wanted to institute a new policy in Milan,” Mayor Beasley said. “Anytime there’s a heat advisory, we’re going to open up our FEMA building.”

Although no residents asked for a cooling center be opened, Mayor Beasley says with this summer heat wave he thought it was time to take action.

“We’ll advise our board of aldermen at our next meeting of the new policy, but with something of this nature it’s typically for the safety of our community, and the mayor has that discretion,” Beasley said.

Even though afternoon showers cooled things off a bit, the mayor says the building will be ready if needed.

“We hope the heat wave breaks and we don’t have to implement the policy again,” Beasley said. “But with the way that the weather has been lately I foresee us doing this a few more times during the summer.”

“We’re going to look at staffing this and having this as an opportunity,” Dillard said. “If nobody needs it, that’s great. But if they do, we’re here for them.”

Mayor Beasley says notices about the cooling center’s hours will be posted on the city’s website, social media and at city hall.