Now this week, tonight's big story
this week is obviously a time for
joy and for love and celebrations.
But for a lot of families,
it also marks a somber milestone.
This week marks six months.
If you can believe it,
since a record heat wave gripped Oregon
for three days and killed close to 100
people in the aftermath of that heat wave,
public officials pressed on how that
could possibly happen vowed to conduct.
A full detailed analysis of their response
to the heat wave and if anything needed,
changing or fixing,
they would change it and they would fix it.
It was a noble goal,
so tonight half a year later we
wanted to know how many of those in
depth analysis that we were promised
have actually come to fruition.
In other words,
who's learning from the heat wave?
In the aftermath of June's
record setting heat wave,
the stories poured out. I wasn't
going out in that weather. We didn't go
out at all. It felt very claustrophobic. It
was hard to breathe.
We spent my neighbors and I.
Two hours watching the police.
Coroner and other state officials.
Prepare this man's body
close to 100 Oregonians died,
many were older in poor health.
Several people died in public housing
and in homes without air conditioning,
common threads pieced together
after journalists pressed the
state for the names of the dead,
horrified public officials made
a promise. Well, I think we're we're
looking now doing an after hours
report to study what we have done.
There was a lot to study should
officials have sent emergency
alerts about the heat wave.
Sounding alarms on cell phones were
there enough transportation options
to get the poor and disabled to
cooling centers and how of all things
did no one think to keep 211 open as
the heat stretched into the weekend?
Officials had urged the public
to call that very hotline for
info on cooling resources,
not realizing it only operated
Monday through Friday.
Stranded callers later told KGW
there was no way to get a human on
the line or no way I could find,
and there was no information.
About the heat wave at all,
officials immediately worked with 211.
That service now operates 24/7.
As for the rest,
they said analysis would follow.
Fast forward six months with the heat
fueled mass casualty event behind us,
KGW started asking who's doing that work.
I'm Tom Stinson.
Last week we got a tip
and the deputy legal director
at Disability Rights, Oregon
disability rights, Oregon, a local nonprofit,
has been pressing the state further,
demanding not just the names of the dead,
but medical examiner reports. Plus
I I spent a lot of time
going over social media.
Going over, you know other access.
Court documents that may
help me understand what's
going on in somebody's life.
Tom Stenson. Key question.
How many of those who died had
disabilities and how many of them
could have lived if officials had taken
their specific needs into account.
As often happens with disaster planning,
the plans aimed at people who
are easy to reach not at the
people who need to be reached.
You know, the people who.
Have computers and good
Internet access and smartphones.
You know they're likely to also
have the resources to. You know,
get themselves through a heat wave.
The people who are most likely to be
affected are are actually somewhat hard
to reach and we need to understand.
Who who's actually dying in these heatwaves
case in point he says Ashlynn Maddox,
don't worry. You'll always be
there by you and do the good ties
in the bed ties.
I'm here your mom's there.
KGW broke the story of Maddox
death back in August last month,
her family asked to meet us at
her grave marking what would
have been her 37th birthday.
Maddox died during the June heat wave.
Neighbors found her on
a hot sidewalk outside.
For adult foster care home
in Southeast Portland,
a medical transport driver
had dropped Maddox off,
but drove away before she went inside.
Surveillance video later showed
Maddox wandering her neighborhood
in the dangerous heat before
neighbors found her collapsed.
The medical transport company
ride to care maintains that
driver followed protocol.
It's
like an accident that didn't
necessarily have to happen.
The family's asthmatics,
who had suffered multiple strokes,
needed extra help that day.
It was a tragedy and never
should have occurred.
It's because of stories like hers
that Stenson is bent on compiling
the data and proving government
officials need to tailor emergency
plans to those who need the most help.
He believes no one else is looking at the
deadly heat wave through the same lens.
Not only is there not somebody
doing that work, I had to fight
pretty hard to get these records.
The official position of.
Of. All of the agencies involved was
that there weren't people with this.
I had to go and prove that there were
people with disabilities involved.
Not only were they not going to
look at it, but it was my job.
To go and show that people with
disabilities were we're dying.
In order to get the records
in the 1st place so.
Those Jensen told us he does not
have findings to release just yet.
He says the state is turning over.
Those medical examiner reports slowly
had just gotten a few more last week
when we spoke and that last point
that he made kind of really struck us.
We wondered, is no one else indeed looking
at the heat wave in the same context,
or at least with this much detail.
So last week our team reached
out to the City of Portland,
including the mayor and every sitting
city commissioner along with Portland
Bureau of Emergency Communications.
We also reached out to Multnomah
County Metro.
And the Oregon Health Authority,
now both the city and the county
got back to us by deadline and
they sent detailed responses first,
pointing out all the things their
agencies did do to keep people safe,
like sending out alerts through social
media and through us, the media.
They also opened 24/7 cooling centers,
and they sent volunteers to check
on the homeless.
They did a lot,
but both agencies also said yes,
they are indeed analyzing what
else they could have done.
Multnomah County home to
the majority of the deaths,
is working on finalizing its full report now.
But they released a preliminary
study in August. It's 25 pages long.
We'll be posting that on our website.
But to sum up,
both agencies say they have already
made changes in the interim,
among them,
the city is now sending out emergency alerts,
tide to heat waves and sending
them earlier and with more methods
like robo calls and text alerts.
They're using stronger language
like heat kills and check on others.
The city also passed a sweeping
new plan to get AC units into
low income residents homes.
15,000 homes over the next five years.
To be specific,
now the county again helped 211 go 24/7
and officials say they're working on a
new deal to formalize that partnership.
They're also adding a full time position,
a staff member dedicated to the effects
of climate change on community members.
And about that last item,
a spokesperson wrote via email This
matters because heat waves and other
climate emergencies won't be slow moving.
They will be a chaotic,
rapidly changing emerging emergencies
where to be successful we must have
existing relationships with every
category of people who are vulnerable.