Records fall in western USIssuing time:2021-07-01 11:58 In the US Pacific Northwest on Monday, temperatures hit 46.1C in Portland, Oregon, and 42.2C in Seattle, Washington, the highest levels since record-keeping began in the 1940s, the National Weather Service said. At least a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon are believed to be linked to the heatwave. A doctor in a Seattle hospital told the Seattle Times the number of patients streaming in with heat stroke was comparable to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Jeremy Hess said some had kidney or heart problems, and one man had third-degree burns from walking on asphalt. Seattle resident Mark Aldham set up a cooling system in his front yard with free snacks and drinks. "It is super hot here. So my partner and I, we set up some shade that we have from [Nevada festival] Burning Man to help cool off our neighbourhood and keep everyone safe," he told Reuters. The heat has been intense enough to melt cables, shutting down the Portland Streetcar Service on Sunday.
An electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, has also introduced rolling blackouts to cope with huge power demand as residents run air conditioners. Agricultural workers are often now being given the option to start at dawn and finish at noon. But labour contractors say that some stay on to work regardless of the heat. One worker was found dead in a field at the end of his shift at a farm in Oregon. One Seattle resident told AFP that the city felt like a desert: "Normally... 60, 70 degrees [Farenheit] is a great day - everybody is outside in shorts and T-shirts - but this is... ridiculous." Amazon allowed members of the public into areas of its Seattle headquarters as a cooling-off location on Monday, while people in Portland also flocked to cooling centres.
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