France's Heatwave Drowning Crisis Exposes Gaps in Heat-Death Prevention

France reported 40 drownings in five days as an early-season heatwave peaked in June, with most victims young people seeking relief in water. Rivers, lakes, and coastal zones carry hidden hazards—undercurrents, thermal shock—that France's 2003 heat-response system wasn't built to prevent. That framework targeted elderly urban deaths, leaving a blind spot for this secondary mortality pathway.