Weeks After a Heat Wave Baked the US, Democrats Push to Declare Heat a Major Disaster – Inside Climate News

In the United States, heat kills more people than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes—combined. Yet unlike these other extreme weather events, heat waves are not considered a major disaster under U.S. law. 

A group of Congress members from some of the country’s hottest states are trying to change that. 

On Thursday, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), along with Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat whose district includes part of Houston, reintroduced a bill to add extreme heat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list of events that qualify as major disasters under the Stafford Act. 

The politicians and heat experts say this step could help raise awareness about heat risks and unlock disaster-related federal funding to prepare for deadly heat waves, which are becoming more common as climate change accelerates. 

“Without a disaster declaration, federal response teams and experts are forced to sit on the sidelines while people suffer and die. That’s unconscionable and it needs to change,” Garcia said in a statement. “Federal law must catch up to the reality we’re living.”

Heat is frequently dubbed a “silent killer” because many people don’t recognize the signs of heat stress until they are already severe. However, heat-related risks are becoming far louder as climate change stokes record temperatures around the world. 

A growing body of research shows that global warming is increasing the frequency, duration, intensity and magnitude of prolonged heat waves. An analysis from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that from 1979 to 2022, more than 14,000 Americans died directly from heat-related causes. 

Experts say this is likely an underestimate due to inconsistent reporting on death certificates and because heat exacerbates other health conditions such as heart disease, which means its role can go unnoticed. 

The federal role in emergency heat response can be similarly murky. 

Enacted in 1988, the Stafford Act was created to help coordinate federal response and assistance to states during major emergencies, and outlines when and which emergencies qualify for aid. Currently, the law formally lists 16 types of natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, storms and volcanic eruptions. Activists and politicians have tried for several years without success to add heat to the list. 

Gallego first introduced a heat disaster declaration bill in 2023, and Rosen tried again in 2024. That year, a coalition of environmental, labor and health care groups filed a petition to FEMA to add extreme heat and wildfire smoke to the major disaster list. 

Now, weeks after June’s “heat dome” baked much of the U.S., Democratic leaders are giving it another shot. If successful, the declaration could unlock federal funding for mitigation measures during a heat wave, such as water stations or supplying generators for air conditioners. In the long term, FEMA disaster funding could go toward heat-resilient projects like establishing more cooling centers or tree planting, the politicians supporting the bill say. 

Any updates to the Stafford Act would come at a fraught time for disaster response, however. The Trump administration has made major cuts to FEMA staff and grant programs, so funding for heat-related assistance would be far from certain. 

FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.

Preparing for Heat, Saving Lives

Many disaster researchers support enshrining heat as a major disaster in federal policy, including Alistair Hayden, a former California emergency-management official. 

“One thing that communities are looking for with this is the explicit resources, not just during the event, but then there’s a lot of mitigation and preparedness things which are really helpful for extreme heat,” said Hayden, who now studies the intersection of public health and emergency management at Cornell University. “I think the other part of a disaster declaration that communities are interested in is … kind of acknowledging, like, ‘We experienced this as a disaster. We kind of want that attention and focus and acknowledgement that, yes, this was really bad for our community.’” 

Hayden pointed out that heat doesn’t necessarily need to be part of the list to be declared a disaster under the Stafford Act, a fact that then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell stressed at a House committee hearing in 2023. 

“​​The Stafford Act does not need to be amended to include extreme heat. We base our decisions on a number of factors, mostly on [whether it exceeds] the capacity of the state and local jurisdictions,” Criswell said. “If the response to an extreme heat incident exceeds the capacity of a state and local jurisdiction, they are very open to submit a disaster declaration request.”

On at least three occasions, a governor requested an emergency declaration for extreme heat. Each was denied. Among them was the 1995 heat wave that killed more than 700 people in Chicago, which FEMA said did not meet the “severity and magnitude” required of a major disaster declaration. 

Hayden said that it is difficult to measure and incorporate health impacts or loss of life in a way that is compatible with U.S. disaster policy. 

Criswell recently told CBS News that the Stafford Act is designed to predominantly allocate funds for infrastructure damage caused by a disaster, and questioned how prevalent this is during a heat wave. 

“What damaged infrastructure do you have from an extreme heat situation?” Criswell told CBS News. “You might have power issues, but is it damaged or is it just a temporary situation because of the overload on it?” 

However, a growing body of research finds that heat can have major impacts on infrastructure in the short and long term. 

During the recent June heat wave, high temperatures caused roads and pavements to buckle in multiple states, including Wisconsin and Missouri. In other cases, extreme heat can warp train tracks, causing major delays for commuters. 

Researchers are discovering other downstream ways that extreme heat can drive economic losses, particularly related to labor as outdoor workers struggle in the heat. A 2020 report projects that heat-driven losses in labor productivity on farms and other outdoor industries could add up to half a trillion dollars annually by 2050. 

Beyond financial losses, heat waves are expected to claim a growing number of lives each year as the climate continues to warm. 

“Current federal policy ignores the physical and health risks that such extremely high temperatures have on our communities,” Rosen said in a statement. “By classifying extreme heat as a major disaster, our communities will be able to receive the federal funding needed to respond and prepare for future extreme heat events.”