The Heat and Disasters are On!
“Summer’s here and the time is right for…” The rest of the verse is “dancing in the streets” but then with the heat and other hazard issues, the song could be rewritten to say, Summer’s here and the time is right for flooded streets!”
The temperatures we are experiencing in many places in the nation are not terribly hot—for August, but we have had many a city’s daily warm temperatures broken, even back in June. Heat can be a significant killer and is actually the leading cause of death when compared with other disasters. How heat deaths are tabulated can be challenging, but consider this, Maricopa County identified a total of 645 heat related deaths occurring in 2023.
When have we heard of that type of death toll from something like flooding? Well, there was the Johnstown Flood of 1889, where 2,009 people died But then, that was highly unusual.
In that vein, I keep reading about dams and levees that are failing due to record rains inundating communities. I’m thinking that 2024 is ramping up to be a banner year for disasters. Lest we forget, hot temperatures breed wildfires and those are just now starting to ramp up across the nation from California to Wisconsin.
If you are in the disaster business, be it government or industry, our busy season is here. Heat, fires, storms/hurricanes, flooding and infrastructure failures are just around the corner, wherever you live.
