The Erie County Department of Environment and Planning hosted the Extreme Temperatures Plan Community Meeting, a community discussion that unveiled a county-wide initiative for addressing serious weather events.
The county’s Extreme Temperatures Plan is based on an assessment of which communities are most vulnerable in extreme weather events. The initiative was funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Climate Smart Community Grant Program.
Josh Wilson, the county’s sustainability manager, told BTPM NPR that the effects of climate change and the county’s experience with cold-weather emergency preparedness inspired departments to implement a plan for extreme highs in hotter months.
“As a county where we really work on protecting vulnerable people, it's really a front-line item for us to get ready for these kinds of things,” Wilson said.
The community meeting brought residents to the Delavan-Grider Community Center to learn about county-wide initiatives, while also giving guests a platform to give feedback on what the county can improve upon.
“It's fine for us to sit in our offices and dream up plans, but really, what we need to do is talk to community residents and talk to our stakeholders and specialists in the community too, and figure out where the risk is at," Wilson said. "And so talking to real people and figuring out their experience really helps us make the plan useful and actionable."
The department collaborated with the University at Buffalo and the Delevan-Grider Community Center to collect temperature and humidity data that revealed “hot spots” across the region.
Community volunteers began collecting temperature and community data for the project in August that identified when and where heat risks are the highest in Erie County.
Wilson said the data shows that the effects of extreme weather are universal, but they are not equal across all communities.
Residents of densely built urban neighborhoods across Buffalo's East Side with little green space, along with those in isolated rural areas with trailers, are among those most impacted by sweltering temperatures.
Some of the people who face the greatest health risks are older adults, homeless individuals, pregnant women and children.
Wilson described the plan as a “living plan” that community members, stakeholders and county departments will work together to continue developing throughout the year. He said he expects the plan to be rolled out by the end of 2026.
“There will be some early actions that we can implement right away, but the plan won't be really finalized until the end of the year, so some of the stuff that we point to might not take effect until the following year,” he said.
There are already some resources that exist, however. Erie County runs a HEAP cooling program that provides free air conditioners to qualified residents and the Eclipse Community Solar Program can help reduce electric bills for county residents, regardless of income. Cooling centers are also open to the public throughout the summer.
The community discussion was the first of a series of meetings on the extreme temperatures plan that will be held throughout the year, Wilson said. The next is expected to take place on April 20.
