Canada Heat Wave: People making quick money by selling overpriced fans, ACs; hundreds believed dead despite efforts to help

Many people have been found dead in homes without air conditioning or fans amid record breaking heat wave in Canada. However, few are seeing this as an opportunity to earn more as people are selling overpriced fans and ACs online.

The heatwave saw stores in British Columbia (BC) sell out of air conditioners and fans. Local stores are selling out of air conditioners at a fast rate and installers have been swamped with up to four times as much business as usual, as per a report by ANI.

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As the extreme weather condition is expected to continue, Ryan Wandler, vice-president of Knight Plumbing and Heating, said that people are in "panic" mode. "It definitely surpasses what we've ever seen before, so (it's) definitely an extreme circumstance." Amid the surge in demand, few people have reportedly listed fans and portable A/C's online for more than double their retail price, as per the report by ANI.

According to a report by AP, officials have set up cooling centers, distributed water to the homeless and took other steps as forecasters warned of a record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada last weekend. Still, hundreds of people are believed to have died from Friday to Tuesday.

An excessive heat warning remained in effect for parts of the interior Northwest and western Canada on Thursday, the report said.

In Canada, British Columbia's chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, said her office received reports of at least 486 “sudden and unexpected deaths” between Friday and Wednesday afternoon. Normally, she said about 165 people would die in the province over a five-day period.

She said it was too soon to say with certainty how many deaths were heat related, but that it was likely the heat was behind most of them.

While, Washington state authorities have linked more than 20 deaths to the heat, but authorities said that number was likely to rise.

In Oregon''s Multnomah County, the average victim's age was 67 and the oldest was 97, according to county Health Officer Jennifer Vines.