Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heat wave that has broken temperature records. More than 130 sudden deaths have been recorded since Friday. Most were the elderly or people who had health problems and the heat became a contributing factor.
Canada broke the temperature record for the third day in a row on Tuesday when the thermometer hit 49.6 ° C in Lytton, British Columbia. Prior to Sunday, temperatures in Canada had never exceeded 45 ° C.
The northwestern US has also recorded record temperatures and a large number of casualties. Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves. Also the number of heat-related casualties is likely to increase as in some areas it is said that they have responded to sudden death incidents but have not yet been able to count the numbers.
For the 3rd day in a row Canada ?? has seen a record breaking temperature of almost 5??0??°C in Lytton, BC.
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) June 30, 2021
The record before this #heatwave has been broken by an incredible 4.6 degrees (most records are broken by fractions of degrees) ?https://t.co/QNiiCjZSKJ pic.twitter.com/XhUNTItVcu
In Vancouver alone, the heatwave is believed to have been a contributing factor to the sudden deaths of 65 people as of Friday.
"I have been a police officer for 15 years and I have never experienced the volume of sudden deaths that have come in such a short period of time," said police sergeant Steve Addison, adding that people were going to the homes of relatives and were finding them dead.
The head of British Columbia, Coroner Lisa Lapointe, said 100 more than normal deaths were reported in the period from Friday to Monday.
The small village of Lytton, about 250 km east of Vancouver has set all the latest Canadian records. Resident Meghan Fandrich said it had been "almost impossible" to get out.
"It was intolerable," she told the Globe & Mail. "We are trying to stay inside as much as possible. We are used to the heat, and it is a dry heat, but 30 degrees is much different from 47."
Many homes in British Columbia do not have air conditioning, as temperatures are usually much milder during the summer months. A Vancouver resident told the AFP news agency that the hotels were totally booked as people gathered there for air conditioning. Also 'cooling shelters' such as this one in Portland, Oregon, are being set up in cities across the Pacific.
Source BBC and ABCnet.au
