Is extreme heat impacting your city? These resources and tips could help

By Zack Cefalu, legislative affairs and policy analyst

State and federal agencies, along with the city of Los Angeles and the nonprofit Climate Resolve shared resources on extreme heat last week as part of a webinar for city officials. Each organization shared strategies for combatting extreme heat and resources for affected cities, which they urged attendees to utilize and replicate.

Some standout resources include multilingual standardized emergency alerts and public announcement materials, regional resource mapping, a cooling infrastructure initiative, and federal grant opportunities. Other resources include:

• California Heat Assessment Tool (CHAT)
• Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
• National Risk Index
• Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool
• HeatReadyCA
• CalOES Extreme Heat Response Plan
• LA Heat Relief Outreach Materials

Presenters also urged cities to connect with every available partner and funding opportunities. Organizations that remain siloed are more likely to produce ineffective responses. They encouraged cities to partner with other local governments, state and federal agencies, and community organizations to deploy resources at every level possible.

They also stressed the need for heat-resilient infrastructure. This need is especially acute in historically under-severed communities that lack the resources to address these issues. Overall, extreme heat does not garner the same resources and support as other disasters.

In 2022, state agencies in California came together to create the Extreme Heat Action Plan, to develop new strategies to address an inevitably hotter future. The plan outlines actions state agencies can take, focused primarily on increasing public awareness, community services and response, infrastructure and building resilience, and nature-based solutions.