As heat arrives, Portland air conditioning units kick in

PORTLAND, Ore., (KOIN) — It’s possible Portland metro will see its first triple-digit temperatures of Summer 2024 this week. But Multnomah County officials haven’t yet decided to open any cooling centers.

“Unless we see things probably worsen a little bit, I don’t think so,” said Multnomah County Emergency Management Director Chris Voss. “While we’re not really that close to thresholds, I still think we would have to see some more warming. We also would definitely consider the fact that there would be limited options for other people if they were choosing to find air conditioning.”

With current heat risks below the threshold norms and cool night temperatures expected, Voss said they are in talks and prepared to open cooling centers if necessary.

However, they’re not anticipating it.

“If people do need cooling centers, you know, obviously Thursday provides a unique situation for us because it is a holiday, it’s the Fourth of July,” Voss said. “So some of the normal locations that people might go to would be closed.”

Still, he said the county is working with partners to ramp up other outreach efforts like distributing “cooling kits” to the homeless and installing air conditioning units for vulnerable neighbors.

“All of these programs that the city, the state and the county are all working on together have really improved the access to air conditioning for vulnerable populations,” Voss said.

The City of Portland simultaneously conducts its own Cooling Portland program, connecting low income residents with cooling units.

Two recipients of the AC units, Virginia Lopez DeVana and Lori Johnson, said the units are helpful.

“It feels like the weather gets really aggressive,” DeVana said.

Johnson said as she gets older she’s “not able to handle the heat as well as I did when I was young.”

Though officials have repeatedly declined to share how many people are waiting for an AC unit, program data for the past two years shows the city reached 60% of its goal to gift 15,000 units by 2027.

That means the city has installed more than 9100 units so far, including 1900 this year — and more than 320 in within the last week.

“All of these programs that the city, the state and the county are all working on together have really improved the access to air conditioning for vulnerable populations,” Voss said.

Local stores such as Ankeny Hardware will be stocked and ready to go with their portable and window air conditioners.

“We’ll have four-hour waits to get into the store and buy sometimes. It gets really crazy because we don’t run out, because we have our storage warehouse,” said salesperson Patrick Hoye.

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