Oregon’s state medical examiner on Wednesday released an updated casualty list from last weekend’s record-smashing Pacific Northwest heatwave. An additional 9 deaths has brought the total death toll to 116.
According to FOX News, the youngest victim of what county officials have referred to as a “mass casualty event,” was 37 and the oldest was 97.
The majority of heat-related deaths occurred in Portland’s Multnomah County, where many victims were found in homes without air-conditioning. Temperatures in Portland hit 112 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday, smashing the all-time record of 108 degrees, set just a day earlier.
On Tuesday, Governor Kate Brown directed agencies to study how Oregon can improve its response to heat emergencies and enacted emergency rules to protect workers from extreme heat after a farm laborer collapsed and died June 26 at a nursery in rural St. Paul, Oregon, reports People.com.
Local agencies are already participating in statewide rule-making for the state Department of Environmental Quality’s climate protection plan.
“The number of people and infrastructure harmed by this event is consistent with worst-case climate models for the Pacific Northwest and predict there is worse to come in the absence of aggressive global action to stop the use of fossil fuels,” said John Wasiutynski, Multnomah County Sustainability Director.
Governor Brown added on Twitter: “We must do everything we can to be better prepared for these types of weather events by making sure vulnerable Oregonians are connected to information and available resources, and that all Oregonians are prepared for severe weather events.”
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