PHOENIX — New heat numbers released Tuesday show Maricopa County could have another record-breaking summer when it comes to heat deaths. ABC15 has been following the county's dashboard which shows hundreds of heat-confirmed deaths, but county officials said it's too early to compare this season's tragic totals to 2023.
"It's not a small problem," said distinguished professor and climate scientist Dr. Joellen Russell.
Summer 2024 has been full of heat records.
"We know that any heat-related illness or heat-related death is preventable in our eyes," said Dr. Eugene Livar during an August interview with ABC15.
Dr. Livar is Arizona's first Chief Heat Officer taking the position in 2024. Maricopa County and the City of Phoenix have also made adjustments after a deadly Summer in 2023. Those changes included opening overnight respite centers.
"All of Arizona [is] working together," said Russell. "We're trying to get more cooling centers open. We're trying to do more social outreach, get more people housed."
ABC15 has been tracking the dashboard used in Maricopa County all summer. New numbers released on Tuesday show the confirmed heat death totals currently are lower than last year at this time, but the number of deaths under investigation is higher.
"We agree that we want to save lives and that we want to, we want to prevent these heat deaths from happening," said Russell. "Problem is we're still, even as we're increasing our efforts, the heat's increasing too."
Our team also reached out to Maricopa County who said it's still too early to project how this season will compare to 2023. They also said the number of heat-related deaths under investigation is the maximum number possible. They said last year, "approximately 75% of the deaths under investigation ended up being confirmed as heat-related."
Staff also said when it comes to future efforts, they will assess the results from this year and use that to inform their efforts for 2025 and beyond.
"I think it's incredibly important for the federal government to actually take this, this hazard, seriously," said Russell. "The Federal Emergency Management should, FEMA, should be treating heat waves like a natural disaster."
This past July, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes renewed calls for FEMA to recognize extreme heat as eligible for major disaster declarations.
"You know, we send our taxes in every year," said Russell. "Shouldn't they be helping Arizona too?"
Many heat relief centers ended services at the end of September, but some are still open through October.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego will be hosting a press event on heat data and response on Thursday morning.
