Cooling Centers Open in Mercer County as Heat Wave Takes Hold

Cooling sites are open across Mercer County as an Excessive Heat Warning takes effect for much of New Jersey from 11 a.m. Wednesday morning through 6 p.m. Friday evening.

Temperatures Wednesday through Friday are expected to hover in the mid 90s with heat indexes (a measure of the combination of heat and humidity) reaching 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Children, older adults, people with disabilities and pets are most at risk during excessive temperatures.
Mercer County offers designated summer cooling sites including all municipal senior centers and all Mercer County Library System Branches.

Senior Centers are only open Monday through Friday. Call individual locations for daily hours of operation. Library branches are closed on Sundays throughout the summer. These locations are open to all residents.

The following Mercer County library branches are cooling sites: Ewing, Hickory Corner, Hightstown, Hopewell, Lawrence, Robbinsville, Twin Rivers and West Windsor. The Hollowbrook branch is closed for building repairs.

The following municipal senior centers are cooling sites: Hamilton, Ewing, Hopewell Valley, Jennye Stubblefield, Lawrence, Princeton Senior Resource Center, Reading, Sam Naples and Robbinsville.

For more information or to contact your local cooling site, call the Mercer County Office on Aging at 877-222-3737.

In addition to making cool sites and home cooling appliances available, the County also offers a “Warmline” via the Office on Aging.

During daytime hours, residents can call 609-989-6661 or toll-free 877-222-3737 for assistance in coping with the heat.

During non-business hours, residents are encouraged to call 911 if they experience heat-related problems.

For more information regarding heat-related emergencies and a list of the County Emergency Management Offices, visit www.ready.nj.gov, or visit the National Weather Service Heat Safety Page (http://www.weather.gov/om/heat/index.shtml). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Heat Safety Page (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/) contains information about the signs and symptoms of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Call 2-1-1, New Jersey’s toll-free, confidential help line, for information about heat safety resources.