4 heat-related deaths reported in Portland area

Name: Staying safe in Washington's severe heat
Uploaded: 2024-07-08T12:32:33-07:00
Description: The hot temperatures we endured all weekend are sticking around for a while.

Staying safe in Washington's severe heat

The hot temperatures we endured all weekend are sticking around for a while.

Authorities in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, reported on Monday four suspected heat-related deaths as the region continued to swelter under an early heat wave.

The county medical examiner was investigating at least three such deaths reported on Friday and Sunday, officials said, adding that a fourth man transported from outside the county died from a suspected heat-related illness at a Portland hospital on Saturday.

Authorities said it will take investigators weeks or months to confirm the causes of death.

Oregon’s most populous city broke daily record temperatures on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and was on track Monday to do so for a fourth consecutive day with a forecasted high of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius), said National Weather Service meteorologist Hannah Chandler-Cooley.

"We are looking at the potential for breaking more records," she said.

The county has been operating three daytime cooling centers since Friday with the aim of providing relief to those more vulnerable to heat-related illness, such as people living outside, older people, people with disabilities and people whose homes don’t have air conditioning.

After causing deaths and shattering records in the West over the weekend, a long-running heat wave will again grip the U.S. on Monday, with hot temperatures also predicted for large parts of the East Coast and the South.

The dangerous temperatures caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley.

The U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June was record warm for the 13th straight month and it marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said.

An excessive heat warning, the National Weather Service's highest alert, was in effect Monday for portions of states including California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, while parts of the East Coast as well as states including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi were under heat advisories.

Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records over the weekend.

A high temperature of 128 F (53.3 C) was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died Saturday from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.

The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.

The person who died was not identified. The other motorcyclist was transported to a Las Vegas hospital for "severe heat illness," the statement said. Due to the high temperatures, emergency medical helicopters were unable to respond, as the aircraft cannot generally fly safely over 120 F (48.8 C), officials said.

The other four members of the party were treated at the scene.

"While this is a very exciting time to experience potential world record setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside of an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high," park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said.