TAMPA, Fla. — The city of Tampa is in the process of finalizing a plan aimed at providing residents relief amid the increasing frequency of extreme heat days.

What You Need To Know

  • The city of Tampa is in the process of finalizing a heat resilience playbook

  • The playbook is meant to help Tampa adapt to increasing temperatures

  • The city’s sustainability and resilience officer said Tampa saw 89 days in 2022, where the heat index exceeded 100 degrees. He said that’s expected to grow to 100 days per year within the next decade

While policies and tools in the playbook are meant to be applied citywide, there’s a particular focus on East Tampa.

“Extreme heat is a real public safety threat,” Sustainability and Resilience Officer Whit Remer told city council members at a May 23 workshop.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths nationwide. Remer’s presentation to city council members said Tampa saw 89 days in 2022, where the heat index exceeded 100 degrees. He told members that’s expected to increase to 100 days per year within the next decade.

“Those heat days, they’re not only expensive for homeowners and business owners that need to run the air conditioning, which further perpetuates our warming cycle, but it’s dangerous for people that aren’t inside,” Remer said.

To address rising temperatures, the city developed a heat resilience playbook. It includes four priority areas: reduce heat risk for all residents, increase access to cool spaces, maximize the benefit of the tree canopy, and adapt the built environment to the impacts of extreme heat.

While Remer said the policies and tools included in the playbook can be applied to all areas of the city, the focus is on East Tampa - particularly the 22nd Street corridor.

“Right now, we have a historic opportunity under the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law to address kind of long-standing issues in underserved communities,” said Remer. “There’s been a lot of grassroots and community-based efforts to bring attention to this neighborhood. So, this particular strip right here is an area of focus for us.”

Remer said while many American cities see a strong correlation with disadvantaged communities and low tree canopies, that’s not the case in East Tampa.

“But the neighbors here still have concerns with the trees that exist here, whether it’s because a tree limb might be hanging over their house or taking up parking spaces. So, not everyone views trees the same way, but in these areas that are owned by the city where we know a lot of people are walking and biking, we want to provide that shade and those co-benefits of the trees,” Remer said.

The East Tampa Cool Corridor Pilot program could include planting more trees, using cool pavement, and building shade structures. Remer pointed out a bench near a bus stop outside an AdventHealth Obstetrics & Gynecology office that had no shelter.

“The worst part of this is this bus stop is located outside an OBGYN clinic. So, for a pregnant woman that doesn’t have access to a car, is only taking the bus, she needs her appointment and has to wait for the bus for another half hour. That’s really dangerous,” he said.

Remer said the city is working to get an environmental justice grant from the EPA to fund these projects. He said the exact amount they’re applying for isn’t yet known, but it will be between $10 million and $20 million.