Oregon Governor Says Too Many Lives Lost During Record-Breaking Heat Wave

Kate Brown said it was "absolutely unacceptable" that at least 95 people died during the phenomenal temperature surge.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) said Sunday that too many people in the state died during the unprecedented heat wave that settled over the Pacific Northwest last week, warning the climate change-fueled temperature extremes were only a “harbinger of things to come.” At least 95 people died across Oregon due to the temperature surge last week, which saw Portland hit an unprecedented 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the third temperature record set in a three-day period. The heat dome saw decades-old records fall up and down the West Coast, prompting dayslong emergency warnings in a region where many residents don’t have air conditioning. Officials worked hard to warn Oregonians about the threat of such weather and set up cooling centers around the state, Brown told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” But dozens still died, which the governor said was “absolutely unacceptable.”