PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the temperature reached 96 in Portland Monday afternoon, memories of the record-smashing heat wave from exactly one year ago easily came to mind. At that time 72 people died from the heat in Multnomah County.
But this time, no heat-related deaths have been recorded in the Portland metro, the Salem area and Vancouver.
The final report on the 2021 heat event released by Multnomah County showed a lack of air conditioning is one of the biggest factors for the deaths. That’s why Portland and Multnomah County along with non-profits in the area are getting air conditioning units out to low-income families.
One of those non-profits, Verde, helped install units in the Cully neighborhood that were paid for by the city’s Clean Energy Community Fund. More than 7000 units are expected to be installed through the program.
Verde, Central City Concern and the African American Alliance for Home Ownership are among the organizations taking applications for the air conditioning units.
More cooling centers were also opened this time. But as summer is just getting underway more air conditioning units will be needed.