MARION, AR (abc24.com) - Couple the high temperature and humidity and with strenuous activity, you have the perfect combination for heat exhaustion.
No one knows this better than landscapers, construction workers and roofers.
If you think you're job is tough, trade places with those guys. They'll show you how hard work becomes hot work.
"It's been unbearable really, but you got to make a living," said landscaper Jeffery Curtis.
“We just try to keep cool all day. Keep cool and keep working,” said Jermaine Richmond, a fellow landscaper.
That's easier said than done. The brutal heat can be deadly for people who work outside.
“You know sometimes it feels like 120, 125. It depends. Like know right now it feels like a 120 up here,” said Hernando Negretes, who works as a roofer. We found his crew in Marion, Arkansas nose to the grindstone while trying to beat the heat
“We drink a lot of water,” Negretes said.
But on days where it seems you sweat as much you drink, what constitutes "a lot" of water?
Conventional wisdom says if you drink a gallon of water you're good to go. But when it's this hot, experts say you should drink as many as four cups of water every hour to stay hydrated.
Curtis said, "I drink about five Powerades a day and maybe like three of those Powerade bottles full of water."
“Don't let the heat stop you. Just keep working, the job has to be done,” Richmond said.
The Crittenden County Health Department says there have not been any heat related deaths.
