TEMPE, Ariz.– Arizona’s new heat official said Friday he is working with local governments and nonprofits to open more cooling centers and ensure homes have working air conditioners this summer, in a more unified effort to stem another horrific toll of heat-related deaths to prevent, which has exceeded 900 across the state. last year.
“We don’t want this to happen again,” said Dr. Eugene Livar about last year’s deaths. “We have no control over it, even though we can control our preparation in response. And that’s what we focused on.”
Livar, a physician with the Arizona State Department of Health Services, was appointed to his post by Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier this year, making him the first state health officer in the country. The new position recognizes the serious risks to public health posed by climate-induced extreme heat, which has increased in recent years.
Livar was joined at a news conference to kick off Arizona Heat Awareness Week from May 6 to 10 by officials from governments including the neighboring cities of Phoenix and Tempe and Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, which saw a record 645 heat-related deaths last year could be seen. In attendance was climate scientist David Hondula, who will be experiencing his third summer as the first heat officer in Phoenix, America’s hottest city.
The increased coordination comes as federal agencies seek better ways to protect people from the dangerous heat waves that are arriving earlier, lasting longer and increasing in intensity.
The National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month presented a new online heat risk system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors with a seven-day forecast that is simplified and color-coded for a warming world with worsening heat waves. .
Last summer, Phoenix experienced its hottest three months since records began in 1895, including the hottest July and second-hottest August. The daily average temperature of 97°F (36.1°C) in June, July and August surpassed the previous record of 96.7°F (35.9°C) set in 2020. Phoenix also set a record in July with a 31-day streak with highs at or above 110°F (43.3°C).
This year’s hot season started Wednesday in Maricopa County, where it runs from May 1 through September 30. Maricopa County public health officials say 645 people died from heat-related causes in their jurisdiction last year.
Hobbs declared May 6 to 10 as Arizona Heat Awareness Week this year to draw attention to the dangers of summer in this arid southwestern state and work on ways to better keep people safe. Arizona also has an Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan for the first time this year.
Among the new measures the state is introducing are at least half a dozen mobile cooling centers, made with solar-powered shipping containers that can be moved to where they are needed.
The city of Phoenix will open two 24-hour cooling centers for the first time this summer, one at a downtown public library and the other at a senior center.
Maricopa County has set aside nearly $4 million to expand the evening and weekend hours of cooling and respite centers, where people can escape the heat outdoors, rest in an air-conditioned space and drink plenty of water. The company also tries to help people with limited resources pay their utilities and get their air conditioners repaired or replaced.
