Previous research conducted by the New Orleans Health Department, and supported by the Public Health Institute, indicated that climate-related health impacts are not felt to the same degree across differing neighborhoods within the city. Further investigation into variations in geographical climate vulnerability found a correlation with past practices of systemic racism and environmental injustice. New Orleans neighborhoods designated as rank C and D by the Federal Housing Administration in post-depression America have faced compounding environmental factors such as construction of major highways, inadequate dispersion of tree canopy, proximity to previous hazardous sites, and flood plains, leaving them considerably more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, namely extreme heat. As such, heat adaptation plans should consider the lived experience of hyper-local, or neighborhood-level, variations in temperature on the hottest days of the year. One of the ways in which this could be accomplished is by integrating heat-related morbidity and mortality data into adaptation and response planning.
Given the unprecedented heat experienced in the summer of 2023, New Orleans declared a state of emergency to combat the growing threat of extreme heat faced by the city. This declaration was followed closely by a state-level declaration. While federal funding was not an outcome associated with this state of emergency, it created an opportunity for inter-professional communication with the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP) using its capacity as emergency management to pull together multiple agencies, both internal and external to the city, to organize a response.
One bi-product of this organized response was an amalgamation of heat-related data from relevant, local agencies who are generally less accessible to the health department outside of emergency declarations. These data were analyzed to form the first New Orleans Heat and Health report. The 2023 City of New Orleans Heat and Health Report serves as a data snapshot captured from June to September 2023 in Orleans Parish. Using newly available tools such as the WeatherStem weather station network, as well as health information from New Orleans EMS and the New Orleans Coroner’s Office, report findings showed demographic characteristics, as well as geographical and location characteristics, that would increase vulnerability to heat-related illness in the City of New Orleans.
The Public Health Emergencies & Environmental Health (PHEEH) unit of the New Orleans Health Department is in a unique position to act as a steward of this heat-related data, which can be used as a guiding tool to support disaster cycle adaptation for future extreme heat events. Maintained communication with state level surveillance programs, as well as support by local emergency management, will be necessary in the methodology behind gathering, analyzing, integrating, interpreting, validating, and disseminating future heat-related health information. Given the relationships formed during the 2023 New Orleans Heat Declaration, data is currently being gathered for the 2024 Heat and Health Report. Comparisons made between the two reports will provide further insight into anticipating the public health needs surrounding extreme heat events.
The creation of the annual City of New Orleans Heat and Health Report marks the first year of a phased approach aimed at integrating health data into Heat Adaptation planning. In 2024 efforts were made to implement interventions strategies identified by the 2023 report including heat safety trainings and distribution of public safety information regarding the dangers of extreme heat. In 2025 the New Orleans Health Department will participate in the forthcoming Heat Adaptation Plan, bringing to the table findings from the amalgamation of new heat-related health data, the WeatherStem network, and information gathered from the community during aforementioned public health engagement efforts.
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