Story at a glance:
- Seattle and Portland have record breaking hot temperatures.
- Extreme heat is hitting communities that don’t typically have air conditioning.
- There are cooling shelters throughout Oregon, Washington state and California.
A historic heat wave is moving through the Pacific Northwest, with temperatures rising into the triple digits and breaking all-time records in the U.S. and Canada — and in regions where air conditioning is not all too common.
Portland, Ore., for instance, reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, according to The Associated Press (AP). The all-time temperature record was set a day earlier, at 108 F.
In British Columbia, Canada, the heat wave raised temperatures to 116 F — breaking an 84-year-old record, reports The New York Times. The hot weather is expected to continue for several more days.
The scorching temperatures are posing a public health risk, as the heat wave hits communities and a part of the world not typically equipped for such extreme heat.
Allan Apo, who lives in Marysville, Wash., told ABC News that it “feels like living close to hell.”
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“A lot of people in this area don’t have air conditioning because it’s only needed a handful of days out of the year,” Mike Bornander of Metro Parks Tacoma told ABC News.
Apo has bought bags of ice because his refrigerator ice maker could not keep up with how much ice his family is using, ABC reports.
For Apo, 68, the heat is especially concerning for his health, as he has a history of heart disease, the lack of cooling could cause a heat stroke.
“The heat wave is really affecting me,” Apo said. “I don’t want to load so much on my heart. When it’s too hot, your heart is working hard. So, you have to give it frequent rest, more fluid.”
Although he managed to get a window unit for his bedroom, overnight temperatures stayed in the 80s.
It was so hot in Seattle over the weekend that officials determined it was too dangerous to use the pool. The city parks department closed down a community pool because of “unsafe, dangerous pool deck temperatures,” the AP reports.
The heat is also affecting farmland and crops. Emily Jubenvill, co-owner and manager at Enderberry Farm in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, told the New York Times that many of her vegetables aren’t growing properly.
“Things are maturing faster under the stress of the heat, and so we’re not able to harvest as much,” she said. She told the Times that the flavor of vegetables like lettuce become overly bitter if exposed to extreme heat.
“It truly is life threatening and we’re not used to this, we’re not prepared for it,” Red Cross spokeswoman Betsy Robertson told ABC News. “The lucky few who have air conditioning are staying indoors, and for just about everybody else, they’re having to get very creative to keep their house cool, and hopefully seeking refuge outside of their home if it becomes too hot.”
There are cooling centers in Oregon, Washington state and California, one of which is the American Red Cross’s shelter at an ice rink in Wenatchee, in eastern Washington.
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