PORTLAND, Ore. — Midway through day one of a projected five-day heat wave, Governor Tina Kotek declared a statewide extreme heat emergency. Multnomah county and the city of Portland are also under emergency declarations for dangerous heat, and homeless residents spent the day fighting to escape the sun, from the banks of the Willamette River to the sidewalks in Old Town.
“It’s disrespectfully hot. I don’t like it at all,” said Jerry, who brought his dog to swim at Sellwood Park Friday morning.
People on the streets of downtown relied on donated water and slivers of shade.
“As long as I’m not like standing still in the sun I’m alright,” said Dominique, a homeless woman.
“You could have heat stroke out here,” warned her friend KP.
Friday at noon Multnomah County opened three cooling centers. Here are the locations:
- Cook Plaza, 19421 S.E. Stark St., Gresham
- Portland Covenant Church, 4046 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland
- The Hugo, 6221 N.E. 82nd Ave., Portland
A fourth site will open on Saturday, July 6:
- Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 N.W. Flanders St., Portland
“We want to provide spaces for people to be able to cool down for as long as they need… We want people to come here and use this resource its open for anyone,” said Julia Comns, a Multnomah County spokesperson.
“I think it's crap because they should open one down here,” said JT, who lives out of a tent in Old Town. Despite TriMet offering free rides to these emergency centers, as a homeless and disabled man, JT said he chooses not to leave his site on the sidewalk.
“Worrying about people coming by your camp, ripping it apart and stealing it,” he said.
Portland Rescue Mission, located off Burnside Street, is one of the only cooling centers in downtown Portland open for people like JT. Portland Rescue Mission staff are looking for more donations to meet the need.
Multnomah County outreach teams are working to find people like JT, who chooses his tent as his only defense from the heat, and connect him with services and cooling supplies.
Multnomah County cooling centers will be open until 10 p.m. Friday and they will reopen at noon Saturday. At this point, it is unclear if they will be open beyond that. The Multnomah County Central Library branches in Southwest Portland and in Gresham are extending hours until 9 p.m. and offering bottles of water for people to escape the heat.
Officials ask anyone needing additional transportation to call 211, and anyone aging, with disabilities, or their caregivers can call 503-988-3646.