At least 5 dead amid searing heat wave

At least five people have died amid the record-breaking heat wave across the Pacific Northwest, as high temperatures are also expected to reach large cities in the Northeast this week. 

In St. Paul, Ore., located south of Portland, a farmworker died at his workplace the same day temperatures reached a high of 104 degrees in the area, according to USA Today. 

Oregon Occupational Safety and Health said that the agency had launched probes into Brother Farm Labor Contractor and Ernst Nursery and Farms following the death, which it said occurred as the worker was helping move irrigation lines. 

Officials have not yet released any additional details on the death. 

On Monday, there were at least four deaths in Bremerton, Wash., where first responders struggled to keep up with calls on people dehydrated or suffering heatstroke as temperatures reached 110 degrees. 

Vince Hlavaty, Bremerton’s medical officer, told local newspaper the Kitsap Sun, “We have never seen anything like this.” 

“I hate to use the word unprecedented but that’s absolutely what this is,” he continued. “Our crews have been up all night, and they’re exhausted.” 

In addition to the five deaths, USA Today reported that the deaths of two homeless people in Bend, Ore., may also have been connected to the extreme heat. 

Now in the Northeast, a heat wave, which counts as at least three days of highs in the 90s in the region, is hitting major cities this week, though it is not expected to be as extreme as the one in the Northwest. 

According to AccuWeather, New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia all recorded 90-degree high temperatures on Sunday, and Washington, D.C., on Monday reached 91 as Boston soared to 97. 

Scientists are warning that climate change is intensifying this summer’s heat waves across the country, with Nick Bond, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Washington, telling The Hill that climate change “certainly has a role here in that our summer temperatures have risen, and they’re going to continue to rise.”