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Recently, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, alongside Miami-Dade County Commission chair Oliver Gilbert, chief heat officer Jane Gilbert, Department of Emergency Management deputy director Jesse Spearo, and National Weather Service representative Robert Molleda, announced the official launch of the county’s second annual “Heat Season,” which began on May 1 and goes through Oct. 31, coinciding with the annual hurricane season.
“Miami-Dade County is the first community in the world to establish an official ‘Heat Season,’” said Mayor Levine Cava. “This initiative is critical to help us prepare and protect people, particularly the most vulnerable, from the threat of this ‘silent killer.’ If we combine all climate-related deaths, heat takes the largest toll, and most of those dying are from our most vulnerable and low-income communities.
“I encourage other communities to undertake bold, integrated initiatives like this one to help us meet the challenge of extreme heat, as we work to share solutions and save lives,” the mayor added.
While Miami-Dade County is known internationally for its vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding, extreme heat causes more deaths and has a greater annual economic impact than any other climate or weather-related disaster. Each year, this silent killer kills approximately 34 people in Miami-Dade County. It also creates economic losses estimated at $10 billion annually, primarily from lost worker productivity. Due to climate change and urban development patterns creating longer and hotter summers, heat-related illnesses and the economic burdens associated with heat are on the rise.
“We call on all of you to join in to #KeepCoolMiami-Dade.” said Gilbert said. “First by taking care of yourselves. Bring a water bottle with you wherever you go, think about your day and those of your family members who might be most at risk and make sure they are protected from the direct sun and heat and are able to take a break from the heat when they need to.”
The establishment of “Heat Season” is a key action in the county’s recently released Extreme Heat Action Plan which seeks to inform, prepare and protect people in Miami-Dade from the dangers of extreme heat. The county is working to implement many of the actions in the plan such as retrofitting virtually all public housing units with efficient air conditioning and working to expand the tree canopy cover, currently at 20 percent, to a goal of 30 percent by 2030.
A comprehensive public information campaign will coincide with the “Heat Season” to help educate people on what they can do to protect themselves and prepare their homes for extreme heat. PSAs will be delivered through radio, TV, social media and outdoor ads in multiple languages with an emphasis on areas of highest vulnerability.
Also furthering the goals of the Extreme Heat Action Plan, Robert Molleda, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the Miami/South Florida Forecast Office of the National Weather Service (NWS), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announced that the NWS will pilot a change in heat advisory and warning thresholds based on recent health data and temperature data.
Starting this “Heat Season,” the NWS will issue heat advisories when it is projected to reach a heat index of 105°F for two or more hours and a heat warning when it is projected to reach a heat index of 110°F for two or more hours. These thresholds are lower than the historic thresholds of a heat index of 108°F and 113°F, respectively. This pilot project is being implemented in partnership with Miami-Dade County which also will include enhanced messaging/ communication of daily heat hazards via social media, as well as specialized briefings to emergency managers when the heat index is forecast to reach orange levels on the Hazardous Weather Outlook (HI of 103°F or greater). This project will be evaluated at the end of the “Heat Season” to determine feasibility to continue in 2024 and beyond, and perhaps include all of South Florida.
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