One dead, other vulnerable people suffered in Whatcom’s recent heatwave. Here’s how
Last week’s heatwave took a toll on Bellingham and Whatcom County residents, especially older people and those who were living outside.
More deaths were reported than usual, and St. Joseph Hospital treated several patients for heat-related ailments.
And at least one death in Whatcom County can be definitively linked to the heat, said Dr. Gary Goldfogel, medical examiner.
“We have had an increased number of natural deaths in people with known significant illness, including complications of diabetes and heart disease that have died,” Goldfogel told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
“Looks like there is now one case of a sickly elderly woman that had heat stroke as a cause of death. I am not aware of the details beyond this. It is possible that I am not aware of others,” he said Friday, July 2.
Officials in Oregon said 63 people died from the suffocating heat that hit the Northwest from June 25-28. King County reported at least a dozen heat-related deaths, and officials in British Columbia counted nearly 500 deaths.
But temperatures in those locations peaked at 10 degrees or more above the record 99 degrees reported Monday, June 28, at Bellingham International Airport.
“There is probably inconsistency in how different offices certify deaths during periods of heat,” Goldfogel said. “I still have no cases where I received information that heat is the causal element in our deaths. It is possible that it is a contributory factor not reported to us.”
Still, it was hot enough to send almost two dozen people to the Emergency Department at St. Joseph Hospital, said spokeswoman Bev Mayhew.
“Through Tuesday, we saw 23 patients in the ED for heat-related issues (and) eight were admitted,” Mayhew said in an email.
Still, many residents suffered in the stifling heat.
“It’s been pretty miserable around here for the past few days,” Patty Dawn told The Herald.
Dawn lives at Eleanor Apartments, a four-story complex for people 65 and older in downtown Bellingham.
Only the first floor of the building has air conditioning and residents are unable to open their windows more than a few inches, she said.
“People were getting sick from the heat. We had 911 here two times in 15 hours,” she said. “We’re in an Easy Bake Oven kind of situation.”
Homeless advocate Missy Weisner, executive director of Serenity Outreach Services, said “a lot of people got a lot sicker” among the about 200 people living without shelter in Bellingham.
“They suffered,” Weisner told The Herald. “It definitely affected people. They got through it, but not well.”
Weisner said SOS organized volunteers who froze water bottles to give to people on the street, along with high-protein snacks such as nuts and dried fruit.
Volunteers also handed out flip-flop sandals to people without shoes, she said.
Lighthouse Mission Ministries saw more requests for assistance at Base Camp during the heat wave, according to earlier reporting in The Herald.
“We’ve served meals to about 10% more people as they seek more comfortable shelter during the day in the air-conditioned Base Camp,” Executive Director Hans Erchinger-Davis said Sunday, June 27.
Cooling sites opened at libraries countywide, at the Whatcom Transportation Authority bus station in Bellingham and at Bellingham High School.
Bellingham High, the bus station and county libraries were air-conditioned, and all sites stocked bottled water.
“We purchased 32 cases of bottled water, and distributed it all,” bus agency spokeswoman Maureen McCarthy told The Herald in an email.
“We purchased about 20 bags of ice, and had to travel outside of Bellingham to find it. The city of Bellingham contributed some as well, when we ran out of sources. We had a steady flow of people in the air-conditioned lobby at Bellingham Station, but not usually more than 12 or so at a time.”
Schools spokeswoman Dana Smith told The Herald that the district asked for employee volunteers to help at the high school.
“There weren’t as many people as we prepared for, but the folks that did come were glad to have a place to get out of the heat,” Smith said.
Bellingham’s public parks saw increased activity and water use skyrocketed during the heatwave, city spokeswoman Janice Keller told The Herald in an email.
“We did generate substantially more water than we usually do at our water treatment plant,” Keller said. “Our average day demand is usually around 8.5 million gallons, during the heatwave it was up to 13.5 million gallons. This isn’t unheard of in summer months, but we don’t typically see that much demand in June.”
This story was originally published July 3, 2021 at 11:00 AM.
