Friday 2 July 2021

heat wave – fires out west

 Climate Change

There has been a heat wave out west, in the Pacific northwest, including British Columbia. Despite what this map shows, the heat doesn't stop at the border!

In Vancouver, hundreds have died suddenly (an increase by three-fold), since only about 40% of residents have air conditioning.  Being in the city, in the heat, is quite different than in rural areas.

The horrid heat has broken here. It's nothing like British Columbia, where Lytton reached a high if 46.9 C. Subsequently, after lightning strikes, they've a 🔥wildfire which destroyed 90% of the town.  🚒It is awful. They had 15 minutes notice to run, before the flames roared in. "I noticed some white smoke at the south end of town and within 15 to 20 minutes, the whole town was engulfed in flame."

Their infrastructure is gone (telephone, electricity), as well as the ambulance station.

Lytton is a village in British Columbia, Canada, and sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser. The location has been inhabited by the Nlaka'pamux people for over 10,000 years.Wikipedia




5 comments:

Olga said...

That kind of heat is very concerning. What a huge tragedy, that fire in Lytton.

DUTA said...

The heat wave and the fires are a great worry! Climate change is becoming more and more present in our lives. One of the hugest threats is the probable swallowing of islands by waters from the melting ice at the North Pole.

William Kendall said...

The destruction of that town in such little time is a shock.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

And this is an augury of the future. It's a cascading effect too; as the trees burn more carbon is released into the atmosphere and the warming of the planet continues.

Lorrie said...

We are so saddened by the destruction of Lytton after the awful heat wave. More stories are coming out that tell of individual tragedies.