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Climate & Health Resources

Emergency Preparedness and Response

  • The official Harris County emergency preparedness website, www.readyharris.org,  offers ongoing emergency updates and resources for flooding, hurricanes, evacuations, and more.
  • HCPH’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response provides health-related emergency preparedness resources and information.
  • Call 2-1-1 Texas to register for evacuation assistance, please call 211 or 877.541.7905, a program of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Choose option 4.
  • Ready.gov has tools and resources for personal and family preparedness.

Air Conditioning Assistance

  • Reliant's Beat the Heat program assists eligible seniors, disabled individuals, and families without the means to cool their homes by providing portable air conditioners.
  • 2-1-1 Texas also offers air conditioning assistance resources.

Extreme Heat

  • Visit www.H3AT.org for updates about the urban heat island mapping campaign.
  • A Summary Report provided by CAPA Strategies can be found online here.
  • The H3AT Urban heat island mapping campaign data is open source and available to the public.

Air Quality

  • The Harris County Community Air Monitoring Program (CAMP) is designed to measure pollution levels that affect public and environmental health across Harris County.
  • Houston Health Department sends alerts on days when outdoor air quality conditions are problematic for people with asthma. To register for the alerts visit Alert Houston. 
  • EPA/AirNow reports the Air Quality Index (AQI) which tells you how clean or polluted your outdoor air is, along with associated health effects that may be of concern. 
  • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) provides air quality forecasts and ozone action day email alerts.
  • Guidance for schools related to air quality and outdoor activities
  • Air Alliance advocates for better air quality and engages community members
  • Call 1-800-490-9198 to request free EPA brochures on: Ozone and Your Health, Particle Pollution and Your Health, and Air Quality Index: A Guide to Air Quality and Your Health.
  • Learn more about Ozone
  • Learn more about particulate matter
  • Learn more about hazardous air pollutants

Flooding

  • The Harris County Flood Education Tool allows viewers to search specific addresses and view their FEMA flood plains.
  • Harris County Flood Control District aims to increase flood resilience in the county. You can explore the various projects to reduce flood risks and damages on this interactive map.
  • The Community Flood Resilience Task Force and Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team (IRT) are designed to work together to promote multidisciplinary flood resilience across Harris County. Equity, health, safety, meaningful community engagement, and transparent and open communication are critical to these efforts.

City of Houston Publications

CDC Resources

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Climate and Health Program is a great source for information about how climate impacts health and what public health departments can do to help.
  • The CDC’s Heat and Health Tracker provides extreme heat trends at the national level as well as the county level.

4th National Climate Assessment

  • The National Climate Assessment (NCA) assesses the science of climate change and variability and its impacts across the United States, now and throughout this century.

Climate Perceptions

  • Public Opinion is an important consideration when it comes to climate change policies and the Yale Climate Opinion Maps showcase climate perceptions across the United States.

Climate & Health Assessment

  • The U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Climate and Health Assessment examines how climate change is already affecting human health and the changes that may occur in the future.