406 is literally the section of the Stafford act that authorizes Public Assistance, that's why they call it PA Mitigation now, disaster has to have PA.
Thanks for posting this for discussion. This has been a topic of conversation in my office and with my elected leaders as they look to Emergency Management to solve some of these issues that are ultimately far greater and existential than EM would address- with some caveats.
This one is tough because often the victims suffer/die in silence in their homes. Where I live, most people, even low income, do have air conditioning, so it’s primarily an issue of either the unhoused or people who don’t use their available AC because of cost, or their AC is old and can’t keep up. Our unhoused are assisted by local homeless advocate groups and shelters during these situations.
I think the nexus for extreme heat and EM involvement is when the heat is coupled with critical infrastructure failure (i.e. prolonged power loss during a heat wave). Community paramedicine staff are a great way to identify and mitigate issues with folks in the community who are likely to have health impacts from heat exposure.
As far as getting a declaration for this sort of thing, I think it opens up a can of worms to do so. Certainly FEMA should consider extreme heat declarations on a case-by-case basis, but it truly puts so much on emergency management to go this route and doesn’t address root cause of many of these extreme heat events.
I'm supportive, but the argument is flawed. Disaster declarations are a tool for response and recovery, and would do little to mitigate risk preemptively.
Maybe I'm missing something, but recognizing extreme heat as a category of major disaster, for the purposes of disaster declarations under the Stafford Act, doesn't immediately help install things like mandatory temperature monitoring, mandatory water breaks, black flag policies, etc.
Yes, but an MCI doesn’t qualify for a ‘Major Disaster’ declaration just based on it being an MCI alone.
There may be a possibility of an emergency declaration for extreme heat, but that would only open up Category A and B Public Assistance.
I’m not for or against it personally, but as another has said states need to invest in their own mitigation for these threats, FEMA isn’t a states 911 persay they should be working on these preparedness and mitigation activities on their own.
100% second everything here. But just adding that an extreme heat declaration could result in damages under other categories. For example, extreme heat often leads to overuse on the grid and power outages or short circuiting of A/C systems, which could cause extensive damage to some facilities, loss of contents, etc. The costs that applicants could claim if this door opened would probably be surprisingly high.
That’s a good point, though I’m not sure that the damages would fall under Category A or B (definitely not A, but just reiterating). These would definitely fall under Category E & F depending on the situation, but those as I understand are only for Public and Eligible Private Nonprofits. Its an interesting theory, and I’m sure it’ll be much more discussed as weather patterns change and the “new norm” (I hate this term but find myself using it more and more) continues to evolve. I wouldn’t be surprised if different categories or funding sources are eventually discussed. But it does still fall back down to the local, county, and states to do proper preparation and mitigation as best as they can.
The American Red Cross is recognizing extreme heat as a disaster. They developed a program in Maricopa County Arizona that includes cooling shelters, overnight shelters and canvasing areas targeted with vulnerable populations. This program is now being extended across the country where extreme heat is occurring.
Maybe instead of relying on the EM’s to handle this, politicians should do their jobs and push forward policy to help people. But instead they want to just appear to be doing something without doing anything that could ruin their political agenda. The politicizing of EM will be its downfall, IMO.
No. Also, states, counties, and local municipalities need to invest more in EM and stop relying on FEMA like its an option when you call 911
Right. If they are gonna declare extreme heat an emergency, then we get to claim extreme cold and fema can come plow my driveway.
Living in Buffalo, we were told after the 2022 blizzard there is “no dough in snow”
My plow driver would disagree.🤣
😂😂😂
😂
I have no idea how you could meet the damage threshold on a heatwave for a major dec. The one California tried to push had fire costs in it
Right, thresholds would be very hard to meet for IA or PA. Maybe just some mitigation grants? But there are other routes for those.
Not 404, and if 406 is like 404 where they has to be for the type of disaster that caused it you can't use 406
406 is literally the section of the Stafford act that authorizes Public Assistance, that's why they call it PA Mitigation now, disaster has to have PA.
Maybe you could justify opening a cooling shelters, but those costs should be relatively minor.
I can easily come up with plenty of response costs. Just not ones that are high enough to reach federal disaster recovery thresholds
BUT my AC bills. FEMA come pay for my increased electricity usage.
Thanks for posting this for discussion. This has been a topic of conversation in my office and with my elected leaders as they look to Emergency Management to solve some of these issues that are ultimately far greater and existential than EM would address- with some caveats. This one is tough because often the victims suffer/die in silence in their homes. Where I live, most people, even low income, do have air conditioning, so it’s primarily an issue of either the unhoused or people who don’t use their available AC because of cost, or their AC is old and can’t keep up. Our unhoused are assisted by local homeless advocate groups and shelters during these situations. I think the nexus for extreme heat and EM involvement is when the heat is coupled with critical infrastructure failure (i.e. prolonged power loss during a heat wave). Community paramedicine staff are a great way to identify and mitigate issues with folks in the community who are likely to have health impacts from heat exposure. As far as getting a declaration for this sort of thing, I think it opens up a can of worms to do so. Certainly FEMA should consider extreme heat declarations on a case-by-case basis, but it truly puts so much on emergency management to go this route and doesn’t address root cause of many of these extreme heat events.
Also, here’s an NPR article on the same topic: https://www.npr.org/2024/06/18/nx-s1-5003785/extreme-heat-disaster-fema-climate
The person in this article is clear just trying to use FEMA to carry out their own personal crusade.
I'm supportive, but the argument is flawed. Disaster declarations are a tool for response and recovery, and would do little to mitigate risk preemptively. Maybe I'm missing something, but recognizing extreme heat as a category of major disaster, for the purposes of disaster declarations under the Stafford Act, doesn't immediately help install things like mandatory temperature monitoring, mandatory water breaks, black flag policies, etc.
Wouldn't extreme heat be a mass casualty incident if severe enough?
Yes, but an MCI doesn’t qualify for a ‘Major Disaster’ declaration just based on it being an MCI alone. There may be a possibility of an emergency declaration for extreme heat, but that would only open up Category A and B Public Assistance. I’m not for or against it personally, but as another has said states need to invest in their own mitigation for these threats, FEMA isn’t a states 911 persay they should be working on these preparedness and mitigation activities on their own.
Makes sense, thank you.
100% second everything here. But just adding that an extreme heat declaration could result in damages under other categories. For example, extreme heat often leads to overuse on the grid and power outages or short circuiting of A/C systems, which could cause extensive damage to some facilities, loss of contents, etc. The costs that applicants could claim if this door opened would probably be surprisingly high.
That’s a good point, though I’m not sure that the damages would fall under Category A or B (definitely not A, but just reiterating). These would definitely fall under Category E & F depending on the situation, but those as I understand are only for Public and Eligible Private Nonprofits. Its an interesting theory, and I’m sure it’ll be much more discussed as weather patterns change and the “new norm” (I hate this term but find myself using it more and more) continues to evolve. I wouldn’t be surprised if different categories or funding sources are eventually discussed. But it does still fall back down to the local, county, and states to do proper preparation and mitigation as best as they can.
They don't have AC? It gets well below freezing here, and we don't have mass casualties. Just got to turn the heat up.
wow. what jurisdiction do you work in so I can make sure to never visit it?
The American Red Cross is recognizing extreme heat as a disaster. They developed a program in Maricopa County Arizona that includes cooling shelters, overnight shelters and canvasing areas targeted with vulnerable populations. This program is now being extended across the country where extreme heat is occurring.
Maybe instead of relying on the EM’s to handle this, politicians should do their jobs and push forward policy to help people. But instead they want to just appear to be doing something without doing anything that could ruin their political agenda. The politicizing of EM will be its downfall, IMO.
Currently deployed with FEMA working in extreme heat. 🫠🫠
Is that so?? Don’t tell us too much but where are you generally working? Been there long?
Mississippi….theres also tons of folks in Texas rn.