After Phoenix’s hottest summer on record, Mayor Kate Gallego is warning that the city’s budget to respond to heat could fall short in future years.
“We’re being asked to do more, but given fewer resources,” Gallego told reporters Thursday. “As we start planning for next summer, I’m calling on the county, state and federal governments to step up to provide funding, facilities, and services necessary to save lives.”
This summer the city launched its first 24-hour cooling center along with other new heat relief programs. And the city reports the strategies were effective. New extended-hour heat sites had more than 35,000 visits between May and October. And heat-related emergency calls to the Phoenix Fire Department this summer dropped 20% compared to last year, in spite of hotter temperatures. Preliminary data from Maricopa County also suggests heat-related deaths may have decreased or remained flat this year, after a decade of steep increases…