Torrid heatwave in Pacific north-west suspected cause of four deaths

 

Torrid heatwave in Pacific north-west suspected cause of four deaths

 

Climate change is fueling longer heat spells in the region, where such phenomena is rare, according to climate experts

 

Associated Press in Portland, Oregon

Thu 28 Jul 2022 13.27 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/28/us-pacific-north-west-may-see-triple-digit-temperatures-as-heatwave-continues

 

Triple-digit heat was being investigated on Thursday as the cause of death for four people as a sweltering heatwave enveloped the US Pacific north-west and the forecast showed no sign of letting up soon in a region unaccustomed to such temperatures.

 

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said hyperthermia was suspected in the deaths this week of at least three people in Multnomah county, which is home to Portland. A fourth death in eastern Oregon’s Umatilla county may also have been caused by heat, the agency said Thursday in an email.

 

The deaths occurred on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The state medical examiner’s office said the heat-related death designation is preliminary and could change after further investigation. Such investigations could take months, it said.

 

The state has roasted since Monday and temperatures at or near triple digits were forecast into the weekend. Portland could be on track to break a record for the duration of the hot spell, authorities said, as local governments and non-profits scrambled to expand capacity at cooling centers.

 

“For the next several days through Saturday we’re going to be within a few degrees of 100F every day,” said Colby Neuman, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland, Oregon.

 

Temperatures in Oregon’s largest city were forecast to soar to 101F (38.3C) again on Friday. On Tuesday, Portland set a daily record of 102F (38.9C). Seattle also reported a new record daily high of 94F (34.4C). The heat spell was forecast to last into Saturday in western Washington as well.

 

The NWS extended heat warnings from Thursday through Saturday evening.

 

The duration of the heatwave puts Portland “in the running” for tying its longest streak of six consecutive days of 95F (35C) or higher, Neuman said.

 

Climate change is fueling longer heatwaves in the Pacific north-west, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.

 

Heat-related 911 calls in Portland have tripled from an estimated eight calls on Sunday to 28 on Tuesday, said Dan Douthit, a spokesperson for the bureau of emergency management. Most calls involved a medical response, Douthit said.

 

Multnomah county said more people have been visiting emergency departments for heat-related symptoms. In a statement, the county said: “In the past three days, hospitals have treated 13 people for heat illness, when they would normally expect to see two or three.”

 

People working or exercising outside and older people were among those taken to emergency departments, the statement said.

 

Many food trucks have shut down. Rico Loverde, chef and owner of Monster Smash Burgers, said the temperature inside his cart was generally 20F hotter than the outdoor temperature, making it 120F (48.9C) this week.

 

Loverde said he closes down if it reaches above 95F (35C) because his refrigerators overheat and shut down. Last week, even with temperatures in the mid-90s, Loverde got heatstroke from working in his cart for hours, he said.

 

“It definitely hurts. I still pay my employees when we’re closed like this because they have to pay the bills too, but for a small business it’s not good,” he said.

 

Multnomah county expanded capacity at four cooling centers, to accommodate nearly 300 people.

 

William Nonluecha, who lives in a tent in Portland, sought out shade with friends as the temperature soared on Wednesday. Nonluecha was less than a minute’s walk from a cooling shelter set up by local authorities but was not aware it was open. He said his tent was almost unbearable.

 

His friend Mel Taylor, who was homeless last year but now has transitional housing, said last summer a man in a tent near his died from heat exhaustion and no one realized.

 

“He was in his tent for like a week and the smell, that’s how they figured out that he was dead,” Taylor said. “It’s sad.”

 

Residents and officials have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heatwaves after last summer’s “heat dome” that prompted record temperatures.

 

About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in late June and early July. The temperature reached an all-time high of 116F (46.7C) in Portland and smashed records across the region. Many of those who died were older and lived alone.

 

Other regions of the US often experience temperatures of 100F. But in regions like the Pacific north-west, people are not as acclimated to the heat and are more susceptible to it, said Craig Crandall, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

 

“There’s a much greater risk for individuals … to have higher instances of heat-related injuries and death,” Crandall said.

 

Officials in Seattle and Portland on Tuesday issued air quality advisories expected to last through Saturday, warning that smog may reach levels that could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

 

The NWS also issued a heat advisory for western Nevada and north-east California to last from the late Thursday morning until Saturday night. Across the region, near record daytime high temperatures will range from 99F to 104F (37.2C to 40C).