‘Spokane Beat the Heat’ campaign launched to help people understand heat waves
SPOKANE, Wash. — According to the National Weather Service, extreme heat is the deadliest weather hazard in the country.
It is also responsible for more deaths each year than hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding.
Just this past year, 19 people from Spokane died during the heat dome, along with 100 other people from across the state.
Spokane is one of 14 communities in the country working on Heat Island mapping. Over 85 people in the community volunteered to help with the “Spokane Beat the Heat” campaign.
Henning and the Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment launched the campaign as a response to heat-related deaths. The campaign’s goal is to help the community better understand and respond to future heat waves.
“It’s just remarkable to think that in Spokane, a 51-year-old person would die of heat exposure because they wouldn’t understand the dangers of extreme heat, and so hopefully we’ll also be communicating and educating through stories like this about the dangers of extreme heat and how to prepare,” Henning said.
More information on the program can be found HERE.
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