Extreme heat tests US cities aiming to help low-income residents

Phoenix isn’t alone in facing a deadly problem.

Extreme heat killed more than 1,500 people, external in the US in 2022, and half of those people were homeless, according to an Associated Press report, but exact figures on the number of heat-related deaths are hard to come by as they aren’t officially tracked.

But based on data that is available, illness and deaths from extreme heat are rising, health experts warned in a 2022 report, external. They forecast a stark rise if the globe continues to warm.

The world hit 12 straight months of record-high temperatures, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said earlier this month.

Last month was the hottest-recorded May in history.

This week, the East Coast is experiencing the high temperatures that have become normal out West.

More than 70 million Americans are living under heat alerts as US cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, see triple-digit temperatures.

As the heat gets worse, communities are searching for solutions in hopes of avoiding potentially deadly consequences, Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told BBC News.

Many major US cities prepare for snow and extreme cold by opening warming centres and ensuring homeless people have a place to go, Mr Berg said, but cities are now having to reckon with providing similar support for extreme heat.

“It’s not something that can just be avoided or wished away,” he said. “It’s something communities need to get a handle on.”