Stormy weather for Evanston – and a bleak future for climate protection
![Stormy weather for Evanston – and a bleak future for climate protection Stormy weather for Evanston – and a bleak future for climate protection](https://evanstonroundtable.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_5212.jpeg)
“Dangerous heat and humidity will build across the region, with possible heat indexes of 110 by afternoon,” the city of Evanston warned Monday morning. Cooling centers were opened, but by late afternoon a severe storm was approaching, the second in as many days. In the evening, as a broad line of thunderstorms moved quickly eastward from Iowa, the city’s sirens sounded and issued a tornado warning.
When the storms passed and temperatures began to cool the next day, the city took stock. Fortunately, this time there were few power outages and minimal tree damage. But thanks to a coordinated multi-agency effort, the city was prepared.
At the heart of the preparations is Kim Kull, the fire department’s emergency management/logistics division chief. Kull just completed her 24th year with the City of Evanston, has an advanced degree in disaster management and is “the expert on all things emergency preparedness,” said Cara Pratt, the city’s sustainability and resilience manager. Pratt is coordinating the implementation of the Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) – which addresses both mitigation (reducing climate-warming emissions) and resilience (preparing for the impacts of change) – and works closely with Kull.
As extreme heat And Storms driven by the emission of greenhouse gases that warm the planet, are increasing in frequency, nationally and here in IllinoisEvanston’s emergency management office plays a central role. As director, Kull works in coordination with other city agencies to monitor risks and hazards. “My office is involved with public works, 311, 911, and all agencies involved in the response,” she says. That could include the health department. “We’re all in the loop. We collect information and share it together. Depending on the scale of the emergency, the response can be citywide.”
If a storm is brewing, for example, the building department can have crews on standby to help clean up the storm damage overnight. On hot days, the fire department makes sure the crews drink plenty of fluids and take more breaks, says Kull. In addition, “they have more opportunity to rest during the cleanup, so the crews are available for the next call, because the work is more difficult in extreme heat.”
While emergency responders are most visible during events like storms, much of the work of emergency management is proactive. “Part of my job is to coordinate with other agencies to get an overview of the risks and hazards facing the city. Then we work together to preemptively mitigate some of those risks,” Kull explains. She weighs climate-related risks that the city needs to consider, such as the increase in heat events and storms like the ones we experienced this week, drought, ecosystem impacts, air quality and even disease.
National Weather Service: “a huge partner‘
The National Weather Service (NWS) is indispensable in much of this work. “We rely heavily on the National Weather Service,” Kull says. “They have a number of technologies that we don’t have. And there are a number of climatologists and weather experts that give us the direction we need.”
The city participates in the NWS Ready for the storm program that helps communities prepare and plan for weather-related emergencies. NWS also uses models and technology to identify potential threats and Weather emergency (WE) alerts. “It happens almost instantly,” says Kull. “As soon as this threat potentially affects our community, the automatic alerts are issued.”
“We also work with them frequently on special events. It’s not just high wind events, but also thunderstorms and many other problems that we have to deal with. They are a great partner for us.”
Critical climate science
While Evanston was bracing for recent weather extremes and much of the country was suffering from record heat, Republicans passed a Party platform ahead of their convention this week. Not only is climate change not mentioned in the platform, it also refers to oil as “liquid gold” and promises: “We will DRILL, BABY, DRILL.”
Climate change denial is also a feature of Project 2025a plan by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank partly funded by oil billionaire Charles Koch, and widely seen as a blueprint for a second Trump administration. “The Biden administration’s climate fanaticism will require a government-wide repeal,” the plan states. This would include an executive order to US research program on global change (USGCRP), which was established by an Act of Congress in 1990 to “assist the Nation in addressing the challenges of a changing environment and identifying opportunities for a more resilient future.” USGCRP reports such as the 5. National Climate Assessment To help decision makers, including local government officials like Evanston’s emergency planners, understand and respond to climate change.
The 2025 project would go even further and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which was founded in 1970 “to provide citizens, planners, disaster managers, and other decision makers with the reliable information they need, when they need it.” According to Project 2025, NOAA is “one of the primary drivers of the climate alarm industry” and “many of its functions (should be) eliminated, transferred to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories.”
No more free weather reports?
As incredible as it seems, this could jeopardize a NOAA program as important as the National Weather Service.
“The NWS should fully commercialize its forecasting activities” and focus on providing data to the private sector, says Project 2025. Currently, weather forecasts are free, as in most countries. As Zoe Schlanger explains in The Atlantic“Anyone with a television, smartphone, radio or newspaper can know what the weather will be like tomorrow, whether a hurricane is heading towards their town or whether a drought has been forecast for the next season.” This free service costs the government $4 per person per year. Under Project 2025, this service would be privatized.
“The United States is undoubtedly experiencing a summer of brutal weather,” writes Schlanger. “Without the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it would be total chaos.”
Daniel Biss, chairman of the Evanston Democratic Party, commented by email: “Project 2025 is a terrifying blueprint for a second Trump administration. One of its key pillars is the destruction of environmental institutions, which, in addition to the devastating consequences for the federal government, could leave communities like Evanston without tools essential for climate resilience. This is another reason why we absolutely must defeat Trump this November.”
An emergency preparedness fair is planned for Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Robert Crown Community Center, 1801 Main St. To sign up for the Evanston Alerts emergency notification system, call 311 or visit the City website.
Climate Watch is a series of occasional articles about what climate change means for Evanston and what we’re doing locally to make a difference.