The heatwave along the coast is affecting outdoor business

LEWES, Del. - It's a heatwave across the coast and with the temperatures in the high 90's, people are feeling it. 

One summer visitor Liz Staber said the heat has been shocking.

"The heat is just a very oppressive feeling," Staber said. "You can feel the air pressing down on your skin, that is how it actually physically feels."

Some doctors like Paul Sierzenski, the Chief Physician Executive at Beebe Healthcare, said this weather is very unlike what people are used to in this area. 

"The amount of heat that we probably haven't seen for some time, it's not just the high temperature but it's a very high heat index," Sierzenski said.

The heat may be keeping some people indoors but now its effecting outside seating at restaurants.

Owen Anderson, manager at Grain on the Rocks in Lewes said the heat has effected the influx of people on their deck seating area. 

"We definitely see it during morning times, afternoon and into the evening," Anderson said. "Just because when that's sun beats down, people like looking for inside seating."

Even events like the Milton Farmers Market was cancelled today due to the extreme temperatures.

Threasa Brittingham, the facilitator of the Milton Farmers Market said she made the decision to cancel the market for safety reasons. 

"We have to remember a lot of our customers are older, we have no shade there," Brittingham said. "There's nowhere for the vendors to go cool off,  they're there for over three hours and their products just wouldn't hold in the sun and heat."

But like any wave, this heat won't last forever and for anyone especially those most vulnerable in this heat, Brittingham hopes elderly and children are staying safe in this weather. 

"I hope they walk early in the mornings or walk in the evening, Brittingham said. "I hope they are staying in during the day."