District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison tried to call a special meeting about the heat, and although the meeting did not meet quorum, Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano put out a memo detailing the plan the city has in the event of excessive heat or heat advisory.
“It was challenging for my office to locate information about where to go in inclement weather, cooling stations specifically,” Harper-Madison wrote on the City Council message board. “Without a comprehensive, easy-access, widely disseminated, comprehensive list of hot weather safety resources—I have deep concerns for how Austinites will survive any interruptions in electric services, local or statewide, small and temporary or complete disaster-sized emergencies.”
Harper-Madison said the point of the special meeting was to have agencies that would be involved in excessive heat or heat advisory situations, such as Austin-Travis County EMS, the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and Austin Public Health, answer questions from the community and share information on how to find resources in a similar situation.
“As the heat wave continues, city staff will work together with Travis County and community partners to implement the Austin-Travis County Heat Plan in support of our community during excessive heat conditions,” the memo said in part.
The memo details the three part Austin-Travis County Heat Plan that is a collaboration among city and county departments, Capital Metro, the Red Cross, Austin Disaster Relief Network, Austin ISD and community organizations. The phases include: pre-heat advisory phase, heat advisory phase and excessive heat phase. During the first phase the city will work with its partner organizations to prep for a possible advisory. During the advisory phase, the city will increase surveillance and monitoring of vulnerable populations and the general public while pushing out information to the community through the media and its own communication channels, according to the memo. During a n excessive heat phase, the city will open new cooling shelters and extend current shelters' hours.
“Generally speaking, specific actions taken during particular phases of the heat plan will be dependent on a variety of circumstances. A single-day heat advisory will have a different response than a forecasted multiday or weeklong heat advisory or excessive heat warning,” the memo said.
The city of Austin has resources available to learn more about the symptoms of heat exhaustion, cooling centers, fire safety and water safety. The Austin Alerts website will also be updated as new situations arise.
