New Film Preview: Heat Wave: An Unnatural Disaster

July 18, 2007

Please excuse my absence recently! I was hired as a research assistant for Judith Helfand, a documentary filmmaker whose newest film Heat Wave: An Unnatural Disaster is in research and production in Chicago this summer.

The work has been time consuming for sure, and that accounts for leaving this blog to rest untouched for as long as I have, though more importantly, the work has been an eye-opening re-introduction to Chicago as I approach my one-year anniversary in this city. The film looks at the 1995 heat wave in Chicago that killed over 700 people, mostly poor, black and elderly citizens living in rough social and housing conditions that prevented them from receiving basic aid, that is, a way to cool down.

I've heard from a lot of people since I began the project who lived in Chicago in July 1995, and many more who still do. I thought it proper to introduce some of the facts and history about the event to satisfy the curiosity of Chicagoans who have heard about the film, and furthermore, to bring light to the topic for a wider audience who may not know about the heat wave at all. Illuminating what happened that one week in July is more than a brief lesson in Chicago history, rather, it sheds light on the kind of social perils and inequalities that continue to haunt urban spaces still today.

The film's thesis is based on Sociologist Eric Klinenberg's book "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago," which is widely available for interested readers. Roughly 250 pages, Klinenberg's book takes a look at a number of factors that contributed to the high death rate, including the slow response of Mayor Daley and his administration, the local media that was reluctant to cover the event as a disaster, and some very personal accounts from survivors and medical workers alike. In looking at the massive heat wave that brought temperatures as high as 106 degrees combined with a humidity factor that made it feel like it was over 120 degrees, Klinenberg was able to prove that the disaster was an abhorrent example of a severely disabled urban society and government.

People too poor to afford a fan, and too afraid to leave their homes for fear of the violence outside their front doors, literally baked to death inside. Some were too afraid to even open a window. Others refused to accept air conditioning units given out of charity because they couldn't afford the electricity bill. Meanwhile, those with enough money to own and run air conditioning, in general, a population whiter and wealthier, collectively overloaded the local utility company, Commonwealth Edison's generators; for days some went without any electricity at all.

Citywide hundreds of fire hydrants were illegally opened for respite from the heat, only compounding the disaster as the city's water pressure dropped so low that some residents didn't even have running water. Mayor Daley was on vacation when the heat hit; upon his return he spawned a PR campaign that deflected responsibility, even partially, for the matter. Police cars holding decedents outside the city morgue sat 17 in line, the morgue was full, and refrigerated semi-trucks were donated to hold the hundreds of bodies pouring in. Early on, Mayor Daley, almost 15 years later, still Chicago's most contentious political figure, told the press not to "blow it out of proportion" and doubted the Chief Medical Examiner's death toll figures, saying "You can't count everything as heat related."



The history is a devastating one and, as noted, reveals social problems that are common to all American cities. Filmmaker Judith Helfand, a graduate of New York University and an award-winning documentary filmmaker, set out to frame these social injustices with her camera in hopes of initiating social change and progress. I've jumped on board this summer to help her track characters most affected by the past (and indeed the present social circumstances), and otherwise bring the heat wave story up-to-date and in terms that matter today.

The film focuses on two South Side Chicago neighborhoods, North Lawndale and Back of the Yards--two industrial areas that once thrived with commerce and community. By 1995 these areas were beyond disrepair, full of crime and a population afraid to face it on the streets. To initiate change local community leaders gathered and have ever so slowly altered (and continue to alter) the way business is conducted, thus keeping the neighborhood economy flowing.

12 years later local greening activities like community gardening and urban beekeeping are two ways neighbors can use existing spaces (most often empty lots, traditionally a communal drug trade area), and its local citizens for labor. People have a better chance for employment, poorer areas can afford locally grown organic food (rather than packaged and processed staples that have become a detriment to their health), all the while helping to combat global warming.

One of the primary causes of the '95 heat wave was a "Heat Island Effect", essentially a phenomenon caused by too much absorption of heat on paved streets and urban structures. Greening activities effectively alter the environment so there is less absorption and more circulation of heat by plants on rooftop gardens, and in all those empty lots that sprawl across the city.

In the coming months Seen will be a good source for updates on the completion and release of Heat Wave: An Unnatural Disaster. I'd also like to thank filmmaker Judy Hoffman at the University of Chicago, Producer Brei Barr at CLTV-Chicago, and independent photographer John Wright for their assistance in my research. Thanks for the hand!

For more information on director Judith Helfand, check out her website: www.judithelfand.com