Oregon’s death toll from the historic heat wave jumped to 116 as state health officials identified nine more heat-related deaths on Wednesday.
More than half of the deaths have been reported in the state’s most populous county – Multnomah – prompting county health officials to deem the record-setting heat a “mass casualty event.”
Those who died from the heat range in age from 37 to 97 years old, according to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.
KATU-TV in Oregon reports, the death count increased significantly over the past week, partly because many of the victims lived alone.
Governor Brown called the death toll from the heatwave “absolutely unacceptable.”
