Should FEMA recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as ‘major disasters’?

The nation’s top emergency response agency has long been a lifeline for cities and states struggling with disaster. Yet for all its assistance, FEMA’s official definition of a “major disaster” does not include two threats that are increasingly posing harm to millions of Americans: extreme heat and wildfire smoke. They are requesting that the Stafford Act — FEMA’s animating statute — be amended to include extreme heat and wildfire smoke in its regulations. Explore the section Currently, the Stafford Act defines major disasters as “any natural catastrophe, or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States.” Attorneys for the Center for Biological Diversity argue that the definition is already broad enough to include heat and wildfire smoke but said agency officials have historically been hesitant to provide aid in those situations, when property damage and other material outcomes can be harder to define. They said the agency is focused on increasing preparedness and resilience at both the community and the individual level — including through their Extreme Heat and #SummerReady awareness and information campaigns — “because if we’re waiting for the heat incident to occur, it’s too late at that point in many cases.” Indeed, extreme heat is already taking a considerable toll on U.S. citizens, and its effects are only expected to worsen in the coming years as climate change and other factors drive global temperatures even higher.