Oregon residents seek relief from heat wave in cooling centers

(5 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gresham, Oregon - 5 July 2024
1. Sherri Thompson sits in car with dog
2. Various of Thompson drinking flavored water in cooling center
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sherri Thompson, Gresham resident:
"For the cooling shelter. It's too hot to be out here for anybody. And you know my dog, you know, she needs to be in here as well. And I'm glad they accept pets. Because I've already had a heat stroke, and so I don't need to have another one. That's way too hot for anybody."
4. Various of air conditioner
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sherri Thompson, Gresham resident:
"It's extremely hard when my AC, you know, I can't run it for very long because it overheats now, so I can't deal with the heat. I just can't do it anymore."
6. People putting out mats on floor of cooling center
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Comnes, Multnomah County spokesperson:
"Today we're in Cook Plaza, which is one of the three cooling centers that we're opening today. So we have, these mats for people to lay down on and hang out. Right now we have the air conditioning running. It's going to be nice and cool in here so people can cool off."
8. Sleeping pads on the floor
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9. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Comnes, Multnomah County spokesperson:
"Yeah, it's all kinds of people. Often people who are living outside. But it's also people who don't have air conditioning at home and just need a place to cool off."
10. Water bottles on table
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11. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Comnes, Multnomah County spokesperson:
"Also we have outreach workers right now who are going out and meeting people where they are experiencing homelessness and providing them with supplies. That includes water, cooling towels, misting bottles. So we really just are trying to meet a lot of people where they are making sure they have the resources to stay cool and stay safe."
12. Chairs and sleeping pads
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STORYLINE:
A slow-moving and potentially record-setting heat wave is spreading across the Western U.S., the National Weather Service said, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. are also sweltering, with oppressive heat and humidity expected to last through Saturday.
Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or even broken during the heat wave, with much of the West Coast likely to see triple-digit temperatures that are between 15 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit (8 and 16 degrees Celsius) higher than average, the National Weather Service said.
In the Portland, Oregon, suburb of Gresham, Sherri Thompson, 52, was waiting in her car with her 14-year-old chihuahua Kiwani for a cooling center to open late Friday morning. Thompson has lived in her car for three years and can only run its air conditioning for about 20 minutes at a time as it causes the engine to overheat.
Thompson said the high temperatures prompted health concerns, as she had been hospitalized for a heat stroke in the past.
Inside the air conditioned center, Multnomah County spokesperson Julia Comnes oversaw county staff and people working with a local homeless services provider as they lined up thin mattresses in rows on the floor and set up cots for people with disabilities. She said the space had capacity for up to 80 people.
“For people living outside or more vulnerable people, the cooling space like this is really important for them to just cool off for a few hours," Comnes said.
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