NOAA,

January 14, 2025

 

This article was originally published by NOAA 

 

 

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $700,000 to support extreme heat preparedness and response planning as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Ten communities have received a total of $200,000 for developing manuals for extreme heat response planning, and $500,000 in funding will go to Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub offsite linkfor heat policy research and outreach.

Communities receive prize money for extreme heat planning manuals
Ten communities have each received a $20,000 prize for the Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge. The communities developed manuals outlining plans to run heat tabletop exercises that test local emergency heat response efforts through simulated scenarios. The exercises aim to bring state, local and tribal governments and community organizations together to determine how they can better collaborate during heat events, and assess their current heat action plans. Communities that received prizes excelled at identifying realistic scenarios, representing their whole community, showcasing creativity and maintaining high attention to detail.

“The breadth of communities across the U.S. that applied to the Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge demonstrates a growing commitment in our communities to prepare for heat risks,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Tabletop exercises can help communities determine how they can best prepare for heat’s many impacts on health, the economy and our infrastructure.”

Community members work together to brainstorm heat resilience strategies during a Las Vegas heat tabletop exercise in December 2022. (Image credit: NOAA)

The following communities received $20,000 prizes for the challenge:

  • Mobile, Alabama.
  • Los Angeles, California.
  • Riverside, California.
  • Iowa City, Iowa.
  • Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Omaha, Nebraska.
  • Washington County, Oregon.
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • Austin, Texas.
  • Pierce County, Washington.

NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network, National Centers for Environmental Information Regional Climate Services, National Weather Service Forecast Offices and National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) have also supported heat tabletop exercises in Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia and Charleston, South Carolina. Past tabletop exercises have helped expand tree planting efforts, improve cooling center access and inform statewide heat preparedness plans.

Duke University project to inform heat policy, strengthen cross-sector partnerships

NOAA has also awarded $500,000 in funding for Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub to advance heat action through a two-year project. The project will map district-level heat impacts across sectors, inform heat policies, assess heat risks in rural and coastal communities and facilitate private sector collaboration on heat.

The Heat Policy Innovation Hub will provide decision makers with localized information on heat impacts to the energy, health, transportation, agriculture, housing and labor sectors. The information will be offered to the public through an interactive web-based tool and educational briefs showing heat impacts in communities across the U.S.

The hub, which brings together scientists and communities to develop and deploy policies and solutions to extreme heat and health issues, will conduct interviews and roundtables with interested and affected groups to better understand heat impacts in rural and coastal areas. The hub will also provide recommendations for decision makers to address these risks.

“The economies of rural communities often rely on agriculture and other outdoor industries, while coastal communities exposed to high humidity tend to rely on hospitality, tourism and recreation,” said Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub. “Extreme heat poses health and economic hazards in both types of communities, but the risks are different and require targeted solutions.”

Cross-sector collaboration will be a key focus throughout the project. The hub will partner with the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS), a group of more than 25 federal departments and agencies, including NOAA, working to reduce heat impacts across the U.S. The project will enhance collaboration between NIHHIS and the private sector, bringing together constituents from energy, agriculture, manufacturing, insurance and other industries for roundtable discussions.

Visit NOAA’s Inflation Reduction Act web portal to learn about current and future funding opportunities.

Climate, weather and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.

 

Media contact

Monica Allen, monica.allen@noaa.gov, (202) 379-6693

Jeremy Ashton, Senior Public Relations Specialist at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, & Sustainability at Duke University, jeremy.ashton@duke.edu, (919)-613-4361

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