Arizona’s Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan

In March 2024, the State of Arizona published its Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, recognizing the increasing impacts of extreme heat on the state, outlining how state agencies are preparing for heat events, and making recommendations for future actions to prepare for extreme heat. The plan builds on a 2023 executive order on extreme heat planning and preparedness.

As noted in the plan, Arizona experienced its hottest summer ever recorded in 2023, with over 500 deaths and over 4,000 emergency room visits tied to heat. It recognizes that the frequency and severity of heat events have continued to increase, causing increased risk as well – particularly for those who are more sensitive or vulnerable to heat, such as older adults and young children, unhoused individuals, people with pre-existing medical conditions, outdoor workers, and those who are navigating additional barriers like high housing or energy costs, limited mobility, or job insecurity. The plan calls for increased collaboration with local jurisdictions, state agencies, the private sector, and community partners to address the risks to public health, economic, and infrastructure caused by extreme heat. 

The plan identifies immediate strategies related to shelter, energy, health, and disaster response that the state is employing to prepare for the 2024 heat season. These include increasing the budget for hazard mitigation measures and emergency response, including state match funding to draw $9 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Safeguarding Tomorrow Through Ongoing Risk Mitigation (STORM Act) revolving loan program. The plan also identifies state programs that have helped operationalize and publicize cooling centers and distribute financial assistance to those with high energy cost burdens. The state is also investing resources in improving grid reliability and resilience to ensure the stability of energy resources during heat events. The plan states that a working group called the Arizona Heat Preparedness Network will be created as part of the Interagency Resiliency Forum, which convenes state agencies, private sector, and community-based partners.

The remainder of the plan focuses on longer-term recommendations to improve resilience to extreme heat. The recommendations are categorized into 4 topics:

  • Safe, Affordable Housing: These recommendations focus on topics affecting the resilience and affordability of housing in the face of extreme heat. For example, it recommends expanded workforce development for weatherization and energy efficiency, heat-resilient design in affordable housing, and planning to address challenges with energy and water service delivery during heat or other emergencies.
  • Adapting and Updating Emergency Response: These recommendations aim to improve preparedness and response efforts for extreme heat. They include actions like engaging in federal advocacy for more disaster funding for heat events, establishing a long term disaster recovery task force, and supporting the development of resilience hubs in neighborhoods.
  • Cooling Center Network Improvements and Support Recommendations: This section recommends optimizing the state’s existing cooling center network, developing standards for cooling centers, and providing reliable funding for them.
  • Data Sets, Knowledge, and Workforce Development Recommendations: These recommendations focus on how the state develops and uses data to mitigate extreme heat. For example, the plan recommends conducting a study to quantify costs of extreme heat and benefits of heat mitigation measures, supporting research related to heat impacts and solutions, and developing educational materials and methods to better reach vulnerable populations.

For each of the recommendations included, the plan identifies the state agency or agencies needed to implement the recommendation, and includes a justification for the action, often discussing potential funding or financing mechanisms and other considerations that may affect implementation.

The plan was developed pursuant to Executive Order 2023-16, which had directed the Governor’s Office of Resiliency to lead the development of an extreme heat preparedness plan by March 1, 2024. The office worked with the Department of Emergency Management and Military Affairs, the Department of Economic Security, the Department of Health Services, the Department of Administration, the Industrial Commission, the Department of Housing, and the Residential Utility Consumer Office in developing the plan. Coinciding with the plan development process, the Department of Health Services also held a Heat Summit in October 2023 “to generate health solutions around policy, data, communications, and multijurisdictional coordination.”

Publication Date: March 1, 2024

Related Organizations:

  • State of Arizona

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  • Adaptation plan

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