I had barely left my graduation last year when I first caught wind of the massive heatwave that was to strike my city. I was driving up to my interview for my summer job, already dreading the 15 minutes in my air condition-less car. It was about 98 degrees then, and the mix of the heat and my nervousness had left me covered in sweat. The radio aptly blasted Heat Waves by The Glass Animals. The song ended with an almost cheery announcement that we would be smashing temperature records in the coming days. “We’re looking at temperatures of 110° and above folks! Stay inside and stay cool!” My first reaction was disbelief. I had no idea we could even reach those temperatures, let alone in Oregon, which is normally mild in temperature. Sure, summers there could get quite toasty, we would usually get one day a year to hit triple digits but never like this. I drove to buy ice after my interview. It seemed like everyone had a similar idea. Stores had begun to cap ice purchases at two bags per person, and water purchases as well. It reminded me of earlier in the pandemic, when we were only allowed to buy one bottle of hand sanitizer per person. It was chaos. The coming days were hellish, but my family was lucky. Many people in Portland don’t own air conditioners. Like Minnesota, we have greater use for heating than ACs. Additionally, the homeless population in Portland is growing daily. These conditions, unfortunately, proved deadly for some who had no resources to protect themselves from the heat. My family cranked up our AC, but due to poor insulation in our house, only the main floor was tolerable. We closed all the blinds, turned off all the lights. We didn’t use the stove. Saturday, June 26 was our first record-breaking day. We hit 108°, the highest temperature recorded since 107° in 1981. Sunday was even hotter, with a high of 112°. I later heard from coworkers who had to work this day that several cooks fainted in the hot kitchens. It was on this day I attempted to deliver water to a homeless camp accepting donations, not realizing how hot the car would be before the AC kicked in. My mom’s car has AC, but it only kicks in at high speeds. I felt ill in the few minutes I spent in that car before the AC began to work. I could only imagine what it would have been like to have no refuge at all. Monday was the hottest, reaching 116°. No one went out that day.
People laying in cots inside the Oregon Convention Center seeking relief from the heat.
Pets were also allowed inside. (Oregon Live, 2021)
Despite the horrid experience, it was comforting to see the ways many in my community came together to attempt to lessen the effects of this heatwave. Mutual aid campaigns were created to help get houseless individuals hotel rooms for the weekend, water and food drives were organized, and cooling shelters were set up in churches, libraries, and even our convention center. Despite the efforts, however, over 90 individuals lost their lives due to the heatwave across the state. In events like these, we like to wonder if it could have ever been avoided. In the case of this heatwave, the answer is yes. The damage being done to our planet is catching up to us. I would be pleasantly surprised if last year ends up being my last encounter with a record-breaking summer. Unfortunately, it seems it might only get worse.
References:
https://www.koin.com/weather/a-recap-to-the-historic-june-2021-heat-wave/
Liz,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how your blog post really allowed me as a reader to step into the reality of this heatwave instead of simply reading statistics about it. It was heartwarming to read about a community that came together to get people out of danger yet hearing the number of fatalities is a strong call to action about climate change.
Hey Liz! It must be really alarming to see such a drastic change in weather in a short amount of time. It's especially unfortunate to see how climate change directly impacts the poor, which is further proof of the intersectionality between politics and climate change.
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