Official French heat wave death toll: 11,435

[Paschall]

The French Minister of Health announced Friday that the death toll from the heat wave that hit the country between August 1 and 15 totalled 11,435, according to a preliminary estimate by the Institut national de veille sanitaire, a national epidemic surveillance agency.

Le Parisien

Chirac's toadies backed off the earlier 3-5,000 estimate mighty quick!

[rjbcar27]

1. Not good that mate.

In the UK the estimated death toll is 1000+

[Paschall]

2. Hadn't heard that

Thanks for the information. Actually, this subject has been hashed and re-hashed here endlessly. I think the real interest in the story will be its impact on Chirac's government. Teachers across the country are already planning to go on strike next week over a pension reform and the axing of thousands of teacher assistant jobs. The pressure is on and Chirac & Co. are scrambling "to save the furniture," as we say.

By the way, six months ago, Chirac reduced funding for French nursing homes and raised the income threshhold for at-home assistance for the elderly by one-third, thereby cutting part of the social safety net out from under a lot of semi-independent retirees. I suspect the backlash is gonna be a bitch.

[NYC]

3. That gives one a new perspective.

...Chirac reduced funding for French nursing homes and raised the income threshhold for at-home assistance for the elderly by one-third, thereby cutting part of the social safety net out from under a lot of semi-independent retirees.

[Paschall]

4. Quite. But so many factors have been ignored...

...in discussions of this crisis here. For example, how many people realize that--being as far north as France is--we get 16 hours of sunlight and only 8 hours of darkness per day at the height of summer? That's a hell of a lot of sunlight beating down on us during the summer months, much more than they get even in Texas.