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And some experts warn of a so-called Hurricane Katrina of extreme heat in Phoenix. WALLACE: Melissa Guardaro is a heat researcher at Arizona State University. MELISSA GUARDARO: I think anybody who works in this extreme heat space is not worried that it's going to happen so much as it's going to happen it's just a matter of when. KAY: What's going to make you trust this building in order to come here at 9 o'clock at night if it's 112 degrees and your air conditioning has gone out? Today, Kay and his colleagues are trying to learn how the center can best offer services like housing and job assistance, but Kay hopes they will also learn. WALLACE: The city is investing $2.3 million in mostly federal funds in the center, part of it COVID-19 relief money. KAY: There are several cities, like Austin and Baltimore and Minneapolis, that we've had consult with us, and now that we've seen crises like the one in Texas and in the Pacific Northwest, there's really an understanding of this heightened need for these emergency response centers in every neighborhood in the country. He says the concept is catching on across the country. WALLACE: Kay and his colleagues plan to transform the cafe into the city's first resilience hub, a year-round community center that can act as a refuge in a climate disaster. We're looking at a sign here - at Cafe Istanbul.

WALLACE: The city of Tempe's director of sustainability is Braden Kay.īRADEN KAY: So we have about a 1,600-square-foot building. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: There's no shade around here. Phoenix regularly sees a hundred days each year of triple-digit temperatures. WALLACE: Today's weather is nice, but many here agree that when it gets hot, the neighborhood needs a place people can go to cool down. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Information on where to get food pantry - is that going to be available here? UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Bill assistance, utility assistance and help for homeless and mentally ill - just a place where people can go for help. At information booths and under shade canopies, they're talking about what they'd like to see in the vacant building at the center of the event. Just to tell you real quick, we've got a raffle for two.ĪNTHONY WALLACE, BYLINE: On a cool Saturday morning in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix, people cluster in a parking lot surrounded by strip malls. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Good morning, everyone. Anthony Wallace at member station KJZZ has the story. To the West, in an Arizona suburb near Phoenix, officials are anticipating a similar crisis from a prolonged heat wave, and they're working to prepare. Heat, food and water - they were all in short supply. By the time they'd passed, millions of people were without power.

#TEMPE HOURLY NEWS SERIES#

It was about a year ago when a series of severe winter storms hit Texas.

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