City Manager’s Office
DATE: November 6, 2025
TO: Council Sustainability Committee
FROM: Grace Kann, Climate Fellow
VIA: Danielle Lee, Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer Audrey Seymour Ramberg, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Results of the Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program
RECOMMENDATION
Receive results on the Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program funded through a grant from Santa Clara County. This is an information item. No action required.
BACKGROUND
On October 8, 2024, the City Council accepted and appropriated a $25,000 grant from Santa Clara County to implement the Extreme Heat Community Preparedness P rogram, which support ed vulnerable populations in Mountain View by enhancing their readiness for extreme heat and air quality events as a result of climate change . The City also provided $4,108.27 in supplemental funds for the project.
ANALYSIS
Extreme heat and other climate-related risks are currently being examined through the Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) to better understand how Mountain View will be impacted by climate change, especially vulnerable communities.
Preliminary findings from the CVA show that by the end of the century, Mountain View will experience 23 days of extreme heat each year. While this might seem minor, prolonged periods of extreme heat can lead to serious health and safety issues. For example, a week-long extreme heat event can pose a greater risk than one or two days of extreme heat.
In Mountain View, an extreme heat day is when the temperature is greater than 91 degrees.
However, if there is humidity, the heat index or the “feels like temperature” can be significantly different. During the summer, humidity levels can reach around 75% in Mountain View, so if the air temperature is 90 °F and there is 75% humidity, it could feel like 109 °F. These conditions can lead to serious heat illnesses such as heat exhaustion and he at stroke , which can be life- Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program Update
November 6, 2025
threatening. Extreme heat events are anticipated to strain public health, especially for vulnerable populations such as people living in vehicles, older adults, children, outdoor workers, and limited English speakers.
Additionally, while most of the City is not projected to be directly impacted by wildfires, more frequent and intense fires in other areas have contributed to unhealthy air quality in Mountain View, and this issue is likely to worsen as climate change intensifies.
The Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program was a first step towards addressing ongoing extreme heat /air quality events for vulnerable populations . Using the County grant funding, the City provided education and resilience toolkits to those living in vehicles to prepare for extreme heat and air quality events.
Sustainability staff partnered with the Community Services Agency (CSA) and the Mountain View Police Department (MVPD) Event and Neighborhood Services Unit to implement the program.
CSA and MVPD provided in -kind staff time to the program, as they regularly conduct outreach for other programs. Sustainability staff developed the heat and air quality preparedness flyers (Attachment 1) that were peer -reviewed by CSA to ensure they were effective for the target audience. The preparedness flyers include information on how to sign up for the County’s emergency alert system (AlertSCC), safety tips, and the health impacts of heat and poor air quality. The flyers are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
Sustainability staff created resilience toolkits (Figure 1), which included:
• Solar charging bank
• Air purifier
• Water misting fan
• Heat stress thermometer
• Sunhat
• Reusable water bottle
• Cooling towel
• Sunscreen
• Hand fan
• Heat illness information card
• KN-95 masks
• Electrolyte packets
• Reusable ice packs and bag
• Instant cold compress
• Backup batteries
Figure 1: Resilience Toolkit Items
Additionally, the Sustainability staff facilitated a workshop about understanding and preparing for the risks of extreme heat and unhealthy air quality events for CSA and City staff. Sustainability staff also shared information and flyers with the City’s Human Services community -based organization network and older adults at the Senior Center.
RESULTS
Sustainability staff, CSA, and MVPD (the Team) provided multilingual, door-to-door outreach and distributed resilience toolkits and preparedness flyers to 200 residents living in vehicles (Figure 2). The Team gave out toolkits at Safe Parking Lots, wide st reets that allow oversized vehicle parking, and community -based organizations (Figure 3). Ninety -four percent of the residents living in vehicles who engaged with the Team accepted a resilience toolkit. Seventy-seven percent of the residents who received a toolkit spoke Spanish, and many of the residents who received a toolkit had families with young children. Additionally, each toolkit was valued at around $140.
Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program Update
November 6, 2025
Figure 2: Sustainability Staff distributing toolkits to residents living in vehicles
Figure 3: Resilience Toolkits Distribution Map
Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program Update
November 6, 2025
Obtaining feedback from the program p articipants was challenging, and in the future, staff will evaluate ways to gather more feedback on the effectiveness of outreach to vulnerable populations. As of early October, only two residents had responded to an online survey, rating the preparedness flyers a score of 9.5/10 and the toolkits a 10 /10. Survey respondents noted that the health information, electrolyte packets, water misting fans, and air purifiers were the most helpful items included in the kits and left comments, including, “Thank you so much! The items included may save a life!” and “I just want to thank you for the support you provide.” Additionally, leaders in the Latino Community shared with the Police Department staff that many of their clients really appreciated the toolkits, which came at an opportune time to help the living- in-vehicle community deal with the increasing temperatures.
CONCLUSION
The Extreme Heat Community Preparedness Program was a grant -funded pilot initiative, and staff will continue exploring ways to better assist vulnerable community members during climate- related events like extreme heat and poor air quality through the C VA. The draft CVA will be presented to Council Sustainability Committee next month.
Attachments:
1. Extreme Heat and Air Quality Preparedness Flyers