County officials, state leaders try to figure out what went wrong during historic heat wave
79 Oregonians have died in connection to the state s historic heat wave officials are trying to figure out what went wrong. Author: Cristin Severance (KGW), Andrew Dorn Published: 7:04 PM PDT July 1, 2021 Updated: 7:15 PM PDT July 1, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. The number of people who died as a result of Oregon s record breaking heat wave has risen to 79, according to the state medical examiner.
The majority of those deaths occurred in Multnomah County where 51 people have died due to excessive heat since Friday county officials we spoke to said that number could rise in the coming days.
Governor Kate Brown today proclaimed March 11 as
ShakeAlert Day, in recognition of the activation of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System in Oregon, and the day that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the magnitude 9.1 Great Tohoku, Japan earthquake. Alerting is now available directly to individual wireless devices in Oregon. The Governor’s proclamation encourages all Oregonians to join in the observance.
“One of my top priorities is to improve the state’s resilience from hazards like earthquakes, wildfires, and other disasters,” said Governor Brown. “Thanks to support from the Oregon Legislature and our congressional delegation, Oregonians are safer today. When a Cascadia event happens, the critical seconds of notice ShakeAlert warnings provide will save lives and reduce damage to important lifeline systems.”