Planning for a Changing Climate: Reframing Emergency Preparedness Planning to Incorporate Climate Change

Changes in climate have already begun to impact human health in the United States and will likely strain public health systems.  In the past 20 years the United States has experienced extreme weather events including the 1993 Mississippi River floods, the 1995 Chicago heat wave, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and the wildfires of 2013.  Hazard vulnerability analyses (HVAs) and all hazards mitigation plans have been conducted and developed at many governmental levels to prepare for and respond to these types of events. In Illinois, they have been carried out at the State and local levels by public health and emergency management authorities.  However, the National Climate Assessment projects that there will be an increase in frequency of extreme weather events, which will require public health and emergency management authorities to incorporate anticipated needs resulting from climate change into planning processes.  As part of the CDC’s Climate Ready Cities and States Initiative, BRACE-Illinois conducted an analysis of Illinois’ 96 local health department’s HVAs to characterize the frequency with which weather-related events effected by climate change were included at the county level, rank hazards by the three major categories of vulnerability (probability of occurrence, impact, and preparedness/mitigation), and rank hazards of overall greatest concern.  Results from the analysis will be used to assist local health departments in reassessing the risk of weather-related events affected by climate change.