Health authorities say up to 70 people may have died in Quebec as a result of heat-related complications since the beginning of theheat wave that saw temperatures climb to more than 40 C with the humidex.

Temperatures have since cooled off across the province and a spokesperson with Quebec's Public Health Department said Monday that it would no longer be giving updates on heat-related deaths because "the situation is back to normal.''

Most of the deaths occurred in Montreal, with 34 cases reported to authorities.

The city's morgue became so overcrowded during the heat wave that it partnered with a funeral home, where it sent bodies for storage.

Montreal's public health office says the majority of people who died in the city during the heat wave were over 60 and suffered from chronic illnesses.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said no patients died in government-run health care centres.</s>(CNN) — An estimated 70 people died as the result of sweltering temperatures that hit Canada’s Quebec province last week, according to health officials.

The Ministry of Health said that 34 of the deaths occurred in the city of Montreal.

Temperatures climbed to over 104 degrees (40 C) with the humidity index.

Temperatures have since dropped with Environment Canada forecasting a high of 81 degrees (27 C) and low of 55 (13 C) for Tuesday.

Quebec’s Public Health Department said Monday “the situation is back to normal” and that it would stop giving updates on heat-related deaths, CNN news partner CBC reported.

CBC said Montreal’s morgue had become overcrowded and that it had been sending bodies to a funeral home for storage during the heatwave.

Montreal’s public health office said most of those who died during the extreme temperatures were aged over 60 and suffering from chronic illnesses, the broadcaster reported.

High temperatures and humidity began hitting Quebec last Sunday with temperatures in the mid-90s for Montreal — about 20 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.

By Friday, 54 heat-related deaths — 28 of them in Montreal — had been reported by health officials.

Many of the victims were older than 50, male, living alone and had no air conditioning, said Dr. David Kaiser of Montreal’s Regional Public Health Department.

Scorching heat also hit California and parts of the Southwest late last week, with record-setting temperaures recorded in Los Angeles.

High demand for electricity overloaded circuits and power was cut to thousands. Nearly 2,000 people were still experiencing outages in the city Monday afternoon.</s>TORONTO — Ontario's chief coroner says three recent deaths in the province may have been related to heat, compared to dozens already reported in Quebec.

Dr. Dirk Huyer told reporters on Tuesday that the three deaths were reported over the last four days.

Quebec health authorities have said that up to 70 people died from heat-related complications in a recent heat wave, including 34 in Montreal alone.

Huyer says the numbers are so different in part because Ontario performs autopsies before declaring a cause of death, and it can take months for those results to come in.</s>TORONTO — Ontario’s chief coroner says three recent deaths in the province may have been related to heat, compared to dozens already reported in Quebec.

Dr. Dirk Huyer told reporters on Tuesday that the three deaths were reported over the last four days.

Quebec health authorities have said that up to 70 people died from heat-related complications in a recent heat wave, including 34 in Montreal alone.

Huyer says the numbers are so different in part because Ontario performs autopsies before declaring a cause of death, and it can take months for those results to come in.

He says Ontario also defines heat-related deaths differently than Quebec — it only counts a death as heat-related if the temperature is the direct or major cause.

Quebec officials have said many of those who died were already suffering from chronic conditions that were worsened by the heat.

Last week’s heat wave in Quebec and Ontario saw temperatures reach over 35 C, with humidex values in the mid-40s.</s>Canadian health officials say up to 70 people may have died in the Quebec province alone due to last week's oppressive heat wave.

The country's Ministry of Health reported 34 of those deaths occurred in the city of Montreal.

Temperatures have since dropped to the mid-80s.

The CBC reported Monday that Quebec's Public Health Department said it would no longer be giving updates on heat-related deaths because "the situation is back to normal.''

Montreal's morgue became so overcrowded during the heat wave that it partnered with a funeral home, where it sent bodies for storage, according to the CBC.

The city's public health office says the majority of people who died in the city during the heat wave were over 60, suffered from chronic illnesses, and had no air conditioning.

Back in 2010, around 100 people died in Montreal due to the sweltering temperatures, according to the AFP.</s>MONTREAL—Health authorities say up to 70 people may have died in Quebec as a result of heat-related complications since the beginning of an early July heat wave that saw temperatures climb to more than 40 C with the humidex.

Temperatures have since cooled off across the province and a spokesperson with Quebec’s Public Health Department says Monday it would no longer be giving updates on heat-related deaths because “the situation is back to normal.”</s>Ontario health officials are investigating three deaths that may have been the result of a powerful heat wave that drove temperatures as high as 40 C, but it will take weeks to months to get a clear answer.

That number is small compared to the dozens of potential heat-related deaths in Quebec, where as of Monday, up to 70 people may have died as a result of complications related to the hot weather.

The difference is that Ontario has a stricter definition of what constitutes a heat-related death, Ontario’s chief coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer explained Tuesday.

In Quebec, a death is deemed heat-related even if a person has a pre-existing chronic condition, such as a respiratory disease, that may be exacerbated by severe heat. Earlier this week, health officials in Montreal said that most of the heat-related deaths were the result of chronic illnesses.

In Ontario, only “accidental” deaths where heat is believed to be the sole factor -- such as a child being left alone in a hot car – are investigated as heat-related.

“So our definition, what we would investigate, would be accidental deaths that are directly affected by the heat as opposed to a natural disease process,” Huyer explained in a media conference call. “We are not notified of deaths that are deemed natural.”

All three Ontario deaths occurred in last the four days, but Huyer would not say exactly where, citing privacy concerns.

In each case, an investigation has been launched to determine whether heat was the primary cause of death.

Those investigations could take weeks to months because investigators need to collect a wide range of evidence. Interviews with family members, an autopsy and analysis of medical records are part of the process.

“And sometimes when the initial tests are done, there may be more tests that may be done from that,” Huyer said.

Temperatures in the mid-30s have gripped large parts of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada in the past week, but humidex values have often made those conditions feel even hotter. Environment Canada called the weather the “most significant heat event in the past few years.”

The heat wave was so intense that a stretch of highway near Windsor, Ont. buckled on July 1. On Parliament Hill, only 6,000 people turned out for the annual Canada Day lunchtime show as the humidex value at the Ottawa airport reached a record-setting 47 C.

In Montreal, morgues have become so overcrowded that the coroner’s office has partnered with a local funeral home to house the influx of bodies. Officials estimate that more than 15 bodies arrive almost every day.

In Ontario, hospital visits linked to the heat have spiked, according to Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health. The increase peaked on Canada Day and eventually returned to baseline levels on July 7.

People need to take extreme heat warnings seriously, Huyer said, and make a point of checking on family members and friends who may be more vulnerable.

Huyer said he’s concerned that the length and severity of heat waves could worsen in years to come due to climate change.

“We need to take this seriously because these events seem to be happening more frequently,” he said.</s>MONTREAL, July 10 — A heatwave in Quebec in eastern Canada has now been blamed for 70 deaths, officials said yesterday.

Thirty-four of the fatalities were recorded in Montreal, the provincial health ministry told AFP.

The heatwave has hit eastern Canada since early July but only Quebec has recorded a rise in deaths linked to the scorching temperatures.

In 2010 around 100 people in the Montreal area died because of stifling heat. — AFP</s>TORONTO — Ontario's chief coroner says three recent deaths in the province may have been related to heat, compared to dozens already reported in Quebec.

Dr. Dirk Huyer told reporters on Tuesday that the three deaths were reported over the last four days.

Quebec health authorities have said that up to 70 people died from heat-related complications in a recent heat wave, including 34 in Montreal alone.

Huyer said the numbers are so different in part because Ontario performs autopsies before declaring a cause of death, and it can take months for those results to come in.

Ontario also defines heat-related deaths differently than Quebec — it only counts a death as heat-related if the temperature is the direct or major cause, he said.

It can be "challenging" to determine if heat was the main cause of death, he said, noting there are other ways to gauge the scope of the issue, including heat-related emergency department visits.

"Deaths are really not a good measure in a real-time point of view to understand a health problem," Huyer said.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said heat-related data are collected in Ontario's heat warning and information system report but that document does not collect statistics on deaths.

However, Williams said he will be consulting with public health officials on what the province should do to better to alert the public and help municipalities respond with more targeted programs.

Last week's heat wave in Quebec and Ontario saw temperatures reach over 35 C, with humidex values in the mid-40s.</s>Montrealers spend much of the year longing for the dog days of summer to keep us going through the deep freeze of winter.

So when the city sizzles through an oppressive hot spell, many of us just shut up and sweat it out, since summer is as fleeting as it is occasionally unbearable.

But last week’s punishing heat wave, when the mercury soared about 30 degrees and stayed stuck there for seven days, was a wake-up call for citizens of this winter city. For starters, it was a tragedy, blamed for claiming more than 70 lives across Quebec, 34 of them in Montreal. From what we know, most of the dead were the elderly, sick and vulnerable, who didn’t have air conditioning and often expired excruciatingly and alone, some found only days later because of the smell emanating from their sweltering homes.

It was a stark reminder that summer is not all fun and games. It has a dark side we don’t often see when we experience it elsewhere as gleeful tourists or during the relatively few days a year the sun typically beats down on Montreal. We’ve had hints of this before, namely the sultry summer of 2010 when more than 100 died. But last week’s smothering heat was an urgent warning, a harbinger of a hotter future for which Montreal is ill-prepared.

According to data recently published by the Prairie Climate Centre at the University of Winnipeg, Montreal, along with much of the rest of the country, must brace for more prolonged hot spells, the likes of which we endured last week. The Climate Atlas of Canada allows the public to take stock of the potential impact of human-caused climate change in their own backyards.

The data on Montreal shows that the average annual number of very hot days (when the temperature rose to 30 C or greater) was a manageable eight between 1976 and 2005. But an analysis projects that the total could jump to a mean of 24 each year between 2021 and 2050 and 50 per year from 2051 to 2080 if carbon emissions continue at their current rate. The same scientific analysis suggests the number of 30 C-plus days would be reduced slightly in a low-carbon scenario, if emissions are kept in check. But either way, Montreal ought to be bracing for such heat waves to become longer, more intense and more common.

This comes as heat records worldwide are being shattered so far this year.

And yet Montreal is woefully ill-equipped to handle the havoc summer could throw our way. Some hospital wings and long-term care homes don’t have air conditioning, as patients recovering from surgery at Notre-Dame Hospital found out the hard way. Some brought their own fans or had to cover themselves with wet towels.

A few hot days last September underscored the fact very few schools have air conditioning. This may be unsurprising in central Montreal, where many school buildings are old, crumbling and in need of renovation to begin with. But not all new schools are constructed with AC, either — which is short-sighted in light of what we know about the local effects of global warming.

Cities around the world are taking stock of and planning for the fallout from climate change, from higher sea levels to wild weather. Part of this is preparing for and working to avoid disasters, like the flooding we saw in parts of the Montreal region last spring, or the wildfires that scorched Fort McMurray in 2016. The other part of it is developing policies, protocols and regulations to make cities more resilient, so they can withstand various climate-related phenomenon to begin with. From zoning that protects natural assets like wetlands, investments in green space, and updated building codes that take into account the future needs of residents, such critical measures are required to mitigate what lies in store.

The city of Montreal adopted its first, five-year climate-adaptation strategy in 2015 to tackle many of these issues head on. But when it comes to the resources and the basic means for dealing with heat, we are starting from way behind. Sending firefighters door to door and imploring the public to check in on their neighbours is a crisis response. That’s not going to cut it long term, when broiling summers become the norm.

In Montreal we know winter. We know wind chill and flurries, ice storms and blizzards. We know snow plowing, snow clearing, salting and de-icing. In other words, we have the experience, the know-how, infrastructure and the accompanying budgets to handle almost anything winter throws at us.

But as last week’s events clearly demonstrate, we now must treat summer with the same seriousness.
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The heat-related death toll in the Canadian province of Quebec rises to 70, with 34 of those occurring in Montreal.