[MIAMI] HEATWAVE
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250,000 people locally through social and traditional media, posters in public spaces, and educational programming in summer camps. This year, we are building on that work to elevate it to the level of hurricane preparedness outreach that is done every year. We’ve learned that heat-related deaths are largely preventable. That’s why our community is investing in an extensive public information campaign focusing on “Heat Season” to explain the risks of extreme heat and let people know what they can do to protect themselves. Heat Season will become part of our community’s vernacular and our residents will all be prepared to recognize and address the signs of heat-related illnesses or stress. We also developed a Climate and Heat Health Toolkit (pdf download) that serves as the overview needed to inform internal and external stakeholders about what can be done to better manage and mitigate extreme heat. This toolkit was deployed through our website and workshops with our non-profit and municipal partners very early on so we could begin addressing the issue right away. Currently, I am co-leading a Climate and Heat Health Task Force with Dr. Cheryl Holder. The Task Force has worked to prioritize short-term actions we can take, and we are also creating a framework for prioritizing future actions and for monitoring progress around extreme heat. To provide input for the planning process, the Task Force contracted Dr. Chris Uejio, an associate professor at Florida State University whose research focuses on how the physical environment impacts human health and well-being, to prepare two reports on extreme heat. The first identified which areas of the County and segments of the population are most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. The second report estimated the number of excess deaths that occur during times of
(above and below) Jane Gilbert discussing MiamiDade's discussing the county's heat threats.
Planting more sustainable trees is one way the county is combating Heat Season.
extreme heat and correlated excess deaths with different extreme heat conditions. Using Dr. Uejio’s data, the County has formed a better understanding of which neighborhoods and populations are most at risk. The findings of the County’s heat vulnerability assessment can be found at www.miamidade. gov/heat The reports highlight that the locations with the highest heat-related illness rates had hotter urban heat islands, and higher proportions of people who were outdoor workers, indigenous, living in poverty or mobile homes, and living in households with children. The reports also indicated that extreme heat contributes to approximately 34 deaths annually and that “every day” summer conditions instead of rare heatwaves increase the risk of heat-related death. We are relying on the best available data and science, but we are not overlooking the lived experience of our community. Over the course of several months, in partnership with The Miami Foundation through a series of meetings and workshops, we worked to engage diverse groups of stakeholders and the public in the development of a Climate and Heat Health Action Plan. Each workshop had between 60 and 90 stakeholders participating and they were offered in multiple languages to ensure we are planning equitably and holistically. The culmination of the work of the task force and the planning workshops will be the Climate and Heat Health Action plan that will address the policies and initiatives needed to mitigate urban heat islands, protect outdoor workers, and assist people in reducing their energy burdens. The Task Force Report will be available this Summer. Miami-Dade is fast-tracking this work because heat is something that is impacting our people right now, and it is a very clear connection to the other threats we face because of climate change. Like continued on page 30
Summer 2022 / Florida Planning 11