Medical examiners are investigating whether the deaths of 10 people who died during a brutal heat wave in the Pacific Northwest last week were heat-related, officials said.
Triple-digit temperatures were recorded across much of the Pacific Northwest starting Tuesday and lasting through the weekend, a region that rarely sees temperatures above 90 degrees.
As of Sunday, possible heat-related deaths were reported in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, as well as Umatilla County, Marion County and Clackamas County, according to a statement from the Oregon State Coroner. The deaths occurred Thursday through Saturday, officials said.
Jalen Askari, 7, right, covers his nose as he falls into the pool where he is playing with his siblings, from left, Amari, 5, Bella, 2, and DJ, from 10 years, in Portland, Oregon, July 26, 2022. Wide swathes of western Oregon and Washington are well above historical average temperatures.
Craig Mitchelldyer/AP
Excessive heat advisories were in effect for much of the region last week. On Tuesday, Portland reached 102 degrees, while temperatures reached 102 degrees in Redding, California, and 107 degrees in Yakima, Washington.
Heat is the #1 weather-related killer. On average, more people in the United States die from extreme heat than any other severe weather event, including tornadoes, hurricanes and floods combined, according to the National Weather Service.
Portland saw temperatures exceed 95 degrees for seven days in a row, breaking a previous record of six days.
Vulnerable populations, including impoverished and marginalized communities and those with pre-existing health conditions like asthma and heart disease, are at the highest risk when temperatures start to soar, Ladd Keith, assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Planning of the University. of Arizona, told ABC News in June.
Rory Lidster, 55, carries his belongings after checking in at a cooling center in Portland, Ore., on July 26, 2022.
Craig Mitchelldyer/AP
The extreme heat prompted Oregon Governor Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency that lasted until Sunday. Most homes in the Pacific Northwest are not equipped with central air conditioning.
Last week’s heat wave drew parallels with the two historic heat waves that hit the region in the summer of 2021. Scientists later found that such heat waves would have been “virtually impossible” if it hadn’t been for climate change and rising global temperatures.
The heat is expected to move out of the Pacific Northwest and into eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana on Monday, where high temperatures in the triple digits are possible.