A prolonged stretch of brutal cold is taking a toll in the South, sending people in Atlanta to the emergency room seeking treatment for hypothermia and existing ailments made worse by the frigid weather.
The temperature in Atlanta fell below freezing at 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve and remained there for the next 40 hours. As dawn broke Tuesday, it was 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the city.
“We have a group of patients who are coming in off the street who are looking to escape the cold — we have dozens and dozens of those every day,” said Dr. Brooks Moore, associate medical director in the emergency department of Grady Health System, which operates Georgia’s largest hospital.
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