A preliminary report released Tuesday in Portland, Oregon, found most people who perished in last month's record-smashing heat wave were white, male, older and socially isolated.
Nearly half the dead were found in apartments on the third floor or higher and almost a quarter had no source of cooling, not even a fan. Temperatures in Portland reached triple digits for three days. Temperatures peaked at 116 degrees as records fell across Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, Canada.
Oregon blamed 116 deaths on the heat, Washington state reported at least 91 and British Columbia says hundreds likely died.
