KATY — Kiev Hill felt the Typhoon Texas water park was a safe place to escape the Houston heat this weekend.
The 46-year-old man and his family spent Father’s Day at the west Houston water park last month and returned on Saturday to celebrate his son Kiev Cartwright’s 22nd birthday.
With the heat index pushing 110 degrees on what was the hottest day so far this year in the Houston area, Saturday was a good time, under normal circumstances, to go to a water park. But, COVID-19 infections in Texas surged past the 250,000 cases over the weekend as the death toll climbed to 3,156 and the number of available intensive care unit beds reached their lowest point since the outbreak of the deadly disease in January.
Newly implemented digital wristbands reduced lines by allowing visitors to make reservations for rides, which Hill said they liked because it allowed them to other things instead of waiting in line.
“If you’re in a building where you have recirculated air going through it, that’s the concern,” Hill said. “But when you’re out doing this in the open air and fresh air where there’s no recycled air going through, it’s not as much as a concern.”
Heat records in Houston and Galveston were at risk over the weekend, with Houston even tying its record for its highest low temperature for June 11 at 81 degrees. It reached 99 Saturday at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Although the worst of the heat wave was expected to pass over the weekend, meteorologists said Houston can still expect to see its signature heat this week. A heat advisory was expected for Monday, and temperatures will fall very slowly over the week, according to the National Weather Service.
Heat Wave: Triple-digit temps expected through Tuesday
Typhoon Texas has received a barrage of criticism on social media for keeping the water park open in the middle of a huge spike in coronavirus cases in both Houston and the Lone Star State.
Health officials have documented 114,500 new COVID-19 cases since the start of June, roughly 45 percent of state’s total. The Houston region accounts for nearly a quarter of the state’s 256,000 cases.
Typhoon Texas President Evan Barnett said the water park, which employs 1,500 people, is safe for visitors and goes above and beyond Gov. Greg Abbott’s reopening orders. Although permitted to accommodate 10,000 people on its 25 acres and Abbott’s order allows water parks to operate at 50 percent capacity, Barnett said Typhoon Texas chose to operate at 25 percent capacity for the safety of staff and visitors.
Most employees are required to wear masks while visitors choose a date a time to arrive through an online reservation system that limits how many people show up that the front gates per hour. And with the average visitor only staying for three hours, Barnett said the combination of hand sanitizer stations, social distancing measures and the chlorinated water keep people safe.
“For the people who aren’t coming here, we completely understand and we hear you,” Barnett said. “We encourage them, when they feel safe - and maybe that’s not until next year - to come out. We’d love to have them as our guest.”
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Texas City resident Brandon Ellison decided it was safe for him, his wife, their son and daughter.
The 28-year-old man enjoyed the Snake Pit tube ride with his 6-year-old daughter Hayden Ellison on Saturday afternoon.
Regarded as an essential worker at a petrochemical plant along the Houston Ship Channel, Ellison has been working 12-hour shifts and recently tested negative for the coronavirus.
With the some time off, Ellison and his family decided to beat the triple-digit heat at the water park.
“I think it’s safe,” Ellison said. “It’s outdoors and there’s chlorine in the water.”
Staff writer Gwendolyn Wu contributed to this report.
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