[valerie]

So far it's being reported that most of the human deaths are due to
power failures. There are many "cooling centers" being set up to try
and help. And the number just reported is 139 now.

It's mainly dairy cattle that are dying, the big farms in the central
valley are having drop offs in milk production, too. The valley normally
has heat, yes, but this had been unrelenting for quite some time...
I just heard on the news that Sacramento broke a 100-something year
old record... 11 days with triple digit heat. Dairy cows just cannot
withstand it, giving milk takes a very large toll on them in heat
like that. Some ranches have large scale misters, and those do
help some.

So far, BR, not any reports of other animals dying. (Not to say there
haven't been any, of course).