Deadly Heat Wave’s Lesson: ‘This Is the Future We All Face’

The city of Portland was baking last June and Bureau of Emergency Management Director Jonna Papaefthimiou was in crisis mode.

Sweltering in temperatures 40 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal in a city where air conditioning isn’t common, Papaefthimiou tried every possible last-ditch effort to help keep residents cool and healthy.

There were the jury-rigged misting stations at public parks, stadium shelters kept open through the night and the hundreds of calls Papaefthimiou and her staff made to subsidized housing managers begging them to check on elderly residents.