Heat-related deaths hit 20-year high in U.S. Texas last year: report

HOUSTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Heat-related deaths in south central U.S. state Texas last year hit a two-decade new high amid a sharp rise in migrant deaths and soaring temperatures enhanced by climate change, according to a Texas Tribune report on Friday.

At least 279 people in Texas were killed by heat in 2022, the highest annual toll for the state since at least 1999, said the report based on the newspaper's analysis of state data.

Many of the dead were likely migrants who died after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the report noted.

The U.S. Border Patrol reported locating 853 bodies along the entire U.S.-Mexico border in the 2022 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The figure included deaths from heat, drowning and other causes.

Texas also saw its second-hottest summer on record during its worst drought in more than a decade, said the report, citing data provided by state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon.

The population in the second largest U.S. state grew from just over 20 million in 1999 to around 30 million in 2022.