By 9 a.m. on Monday, as the day's routines were just beginning, the temperature in Seoul had already reached 30 degrees Celsius. Residents of Huimangchon, a low-income neighborhood in Sanggye-dong, Nowon District, gathered beneath a makeshift canopy to check on one another after another sweltering night. In a community with no senior center or cooling shelter to escape the heat, sharing a cup of iced coffee each morning has become a daily ritual of confirming that everyone is still safe. "Last night felt like sleeping inside a cauldron. When I woke up, my pillow was soaked with sweat," 73-year-old Yoon Yi-kyung said, wiping sweat from her neck with a towel while sipping iced coffee. "Even with the canopy blocking the sun, my skin has turned dark from the heat," she added. "This summer feels especially frightening." Yet many residents cannot afford to keep even an electric fan running all day, let alone an air conditioner, because of soaring electricity bills. After finishing work in her vegetable garden, 87-year-old Lee Geum-soon splashed water from a basin beside her washing machine ont