At least 69 dead in Vancouver as rising temperatures grip Canada and U.S.

Vancouver – At least 69 people in the Vancouver area have died in a record-smashing heat wave engulfing western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest, police said Tuesday.

Most of the dead in the Vancouver suburbs of Burnaby and Surrey over the past 24 hours were older people or those with underlying health conditions, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.

Other local municipalities said they too had responded to many sudden death calls since Monday, but have not yet released tolls.

“Although still under investigation, heat is believed to be a contributing factor in the majority of the deaths,” RCMP Corporal Michael Kalanj said in a statement.

Climate change is causing record-setting temperatures to become more frequent. Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years have all occurred within the last five years.

Scorching heat stretching from the U.S. state of Oregon to Canada’s Arctic territories has been blamed on a high-pressure ridge trapping warm air in the region.

On Monday, Canada set a new all-time high temperature record of 47.9 degrees Celsius in Lytton in British Columbia, about 250 kilometers east of Vancouver. The record was broken again Tuesday when the mercury hit 49.5 in Lytton.

Temperatures in the U.S. Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, reached levels not seen since record-keeping began in the 1940s: 46 degrees in Portland and 42 in Seattle, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

Vancouver on the Pacific coast has for several days recorded temperatures above 30 degrees. Inland along the Fraser River delta, amid high humidity, climatologists said it felt like 44 degrees on Tuesday.

“We are in the midst of the hottest week British Columbians have ever experienced, and there are consequences to that — disastrous consequences for families and for communities,” British Columbia Premier John Horgan told a news conference. “How we get through this extraordinary time is by hanging together.”

He urged “checking up on those people we know might be at risk, making sure we have cold compresses in the fridge or we’re staying in the coolest part of our homes, and making sure that we’re taking steps to get through this heat wave.”

Environment Canada has issued alerts for British Columbia, Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, saying the “prolonged, dangerous and historic heat wave will persist through this week.”

The U.S. National Weather Service issued a similar warning, urging people to “stay in air-conditioned buildings, avoid strenuous outdoor activities, drink plenty of water, and check on family members/neighbors.”

The heat wave has forced schools and COVID-19 vaccination centers to close in the Vancouver area, while officials set up temporary water fountains and misting stations on street corners.

Stores quickly sold out of portable air conditioners and fans, so several people without cooling at home said they hunkered down in their air conditioned cars or underground parking garages at night.

Cities across the western United States and Canada opened emergency cooling centers and outreach workers handed out bottles of water and hats.

In Eugene, Oregon, organizers were forced to adjust the final day of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, moving afternoon events to the evening.

The extreme heat, combined with intense drought, also created the perfect conditions for several fires to break out over the weekend. One blaze on the California-Oregon border had already burned some 600 hectares (1,500 acres) by Monday morning.

“Dubai would be cooler than what we’re seeing now,” David Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada, said Monday.