An undetermined number of older people died during the summer of 2021 when an unexpected heat wave swept across the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
Isolated and vulnerable, the heat victims last year during Maricopa County's deadliest summer on record included a couple in their 80s without known relatives, an 83-year-old woman with dementia living alone after her husband entered hospice care and a 62-year-old Rwandan refugee whose air conditioner broke down.
Canada reported that coroners confirmed more than 600 people died from the heat in neighboring British Columbia.Many U.S. cities, including Phoenix, have plans to protect people during heat waves, opening cooling centers and distributing bottled water. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana in 2005, around half of the 1,000 people killed were 75 or older, most of them drowned when their homes flooded.
Hodges contributed to the climate kit from a region that experiences all the weather events it covers: extreme heat, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. The Healthy Homes Air Conditioning Program run by the nonprofit Foundation for Senior Living last summer ensured about 30 people got new air conditioners or repairs and helped others with home improvements.
Utility companies can also help protect vulnerable people by halting power disconnections during hot periods.
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