 Ashley Westerman, NPR News, LaVeith. In the U.S., 134 million people remain under some kind of heat alert today, including in parts of the south and east. Heat is also baking the west. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports at least four deaths are blamed on the heat in Portland, Oregon. That's where temperatures have soared to the triple digits for days. The heat wave is hitting especially hard in northwest cities such as Portland, where air conditioning still isn't as prevalent.