France heatwave has Jamaican missing home

Rodane Henry has spent almost 10 years living in Europe, but the Portmore native says this summer’s heat in Paris, France, has left him considering something he never expected – taking a trip back to Jamaica for relief.

Henry, 29, first moved to Europe to pursue his bachelor’s degree in England before later settling in Paris, where he now works in technology. He said he is used to cold winters and warm summers but the recent heatwave has felt different.

“At this point, I am seriously thinking about going back to Jamaica for a little bit,” Henry said. “Imagine leaving Jamaica and France is the place making you run from heat. But that is how bad it feels. It feels like I am living in hell. It’s almost metal tournament.”

Henry said the recent heatwave has affected his sleep, work routine and sense of safety.

“In Jamaica, you can usually find breeze somewhere. You can go by the sea, sit outside, drink something cold. Here, the heat feels trapped. The building holds it, the room holds it and even when night come, it doesn’t ease up. It’s literally hell.”

France has been battling severe summer heatwave, with weather officials warning of dangerous temperatures across sections of the country. Health authorities have also reported a rise in excess deaths during the heatwave period, over 2000 deaths. For Henry, the human cost is heavy.

“When I go to work and see a co-worker in agony, he went home and saw his dad laying lifeless, it stop being funny,” he said. “At first you are complaining because you uncomfortable, because you can’t sleep, because you sweating in your house. Then you realise people are actually dying.”

Henry said the situation has made him more anxious because, in his view, France is equipped for cold the same way Jamaica is equipped for heat.

“Countries prepare for what they are used to. So no there’s no exaggeration when I say this feels like exactly what the Bible described,” he said.

His apartment has no built-in air conditioning, and he said finding proper cooling equipment became difficult because of the high demand.

“Everything seems sold out and people are desperate,” he said told THE STAR.