PORTLAND, OREGON (FINANCIAL TIMES) - When Mr Caleb Coder helped set up an emergency shelter in the American city of Portland in February, the aim was to provide a place of refuge during what was a brutal winter storm.
Five months later, the same Sunrise Centre building is being used for the exact opposite reason: as a haven from the devastating and record-shattering heatwave that this week crippled not just the state of Oregon but much of the Pacific North-west and Canada. People were literally crawling to the Sunrise Centre because it was so hot. They were vomiting, burnt and dehydrated, said Mr Coder, whose Cultivate Initiatives supports the city s vulnerable populations.
Hundreds dead throughout US Pacific Northwest, British Columbia in “once-in-a-millennium” heat wave
The ongoing heat wave across Western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest has been described as a “once-in-a-millennium” event, with temperatures in Portland, Oregon reaching 116 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, Seattle, Washington reaching 108 degrees over the weekend, and 116 degrees in Vancouver, British Columbia.
A farmworker wipes sweat from his neck while working, Thursday, July 1, 2021, in St. Paul, Ore. [Credit: AP Photo/Nathan Howard]
Among the highest temperatures reached was in the town of Lytton, British Columbia, which breached 121 degrees Fahrenheit. On Monday, people were evacuated as several wildfires tore through the town.