Drought and Extreme Heat

The heat index combines temperature and humidity, and it is what the body actually feels. These are the bands from the official National Weather Service chart:

80–89°F (27–32°C) — Caution

Fatigue possible with prolonged exposure or physical activity.

90–104°F (32–40°C) — Extreme caution

Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke possible.

105–129°F (41–54°C) — Danger

Heat cramps and heat exhaustion likely; heatstroke possible with prolonged exposure or activity.

130°F (54°C) or higher — Extreme danger

Heatstroke highly likely if exposure continues.

The NWS issues an Excessive Heat Warning when a heat index of 105°F (41°C) or higher for at least two days is expected and the overnight temperature does not drop below 75°F (24°C). That second number is the one that matters: when the night doesn't cool off, the body doesn't recover, and that's where deaths happen.

Who is at greatest risk, according to the CDC: people 65 and older, infants and children, people living with chronic illness, people without air conditioning, pregnant people, athletes, and outdoor workers.

• Identify the nearest cooling center right now: a library, a mall, a public building with air conditioning.
• Make a list of the older people on your street who live alone. Ready.gov specifically calls for checking on them regularly during a heat wave.
• Keep water stored and drink often without waiting to feel thirsty.
• Install curtains or reflective film on windows that get direct sun.
• If you depend on a powered medical device, have a plan in case the heat causes power outages.
• When drought is forecast, start storing water and fixing leaks before restrictions arrive, not after.

Heat exhaustion — act fast, but it is not yet the bigger emergency

Headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, and heavy sweating. What to do: move the person to a cool place, give them fluids, apply cold compresses, and wash their head, face, and neck with cold water. If they don't improve, get medical attention.

Heatstroke — this is a medical emergency

Confusion, slurred speech, hot, dry skin or profuse sweating, loss of consciousness, very high body temperature. What to do: call emergency services immediately and cool the body with cold water or ice while help is on the way. Do not wait to see if it improves.

• Drink fluids often even if you're not thirsty; in extreme heat, thirst arrives too late.
• Take a cool shower: it lowers body temperature faster than any drink.
• If you don't have air conditioning, go to a cooling center. Ready.gov is explicit about this: a fan alone is not enough once the air is already very hot, because it moves heat around instead of removing it.
• Avoid physical exertion during the hottest hours of the day.
• Check on older people, children, and neighbors who live alone: this is an official recommendation, not just a courtesy.
• Never leave anyone, not even a pet, inside a parked vehicle.

A drought doesn't end the day it rains. It ends when the soil, wells, and reserves recover, and that takes far longer than the downpour that makes the news. What you do in those weeks decides whether the next dry season finds you just as exposed, or better prepared.

• Make the most of that first rain: it's the best moment to start catchment, clean gutters, and fill cisterns and tanks.
• Check stored water before drinking it if it has been kept for a long time, and follow the disinfection steps in the infrastructure crisis guide.
• Don't drop the habits that worked: fixed leaks, drip irrigation, and consumption cuts are worth just as much with rain as without it, and they're what leaves you ready for the next drought.
• Document your losses — crops, livestock, equipment — with photos and written records before replacing anything, in case there's aid or insurance to claim.
• Restore the soil before the production: organic matter, ground cover, and shade hold moisture and are what sustains the next harvest.
• Check the real condition of your well or water source before going back to normal use: the water table takes months or years to recover, even once the surface looks green again.

And a health warning that gets forgotten once the scare passes: the documented effects of drought on water and air quality don't disappear with the first rain. If your water source was compromised, treat it as unsafe to drink until the authorities confirm otherwise.

A family plan is not a pretty document: it is a handful of agreements made today, while everyone is calm, so you do not have to decide with your heart racing and no signal on your phone. It takes one conversation over the table and fits on a sheet of paper stuck to the refrigerator.

1. Decide where to meet, in two different places. One near home, for getting out quickly, and another outside the neighborhood, in case you cannot get back to the area. Everyone should know both by heart, children included, and it should not depend on anyone having a phone handy.
2. Name an out-of-area contact. One person in another city that everyone texts when they can. That person gathers information and passes it along, so no one has to go out looking for anyone else. It works because local lines get overloaded first, and because a text gets through where a call does not.
3. Assign responsibilities to specific people. Who grabs the emergency bag, who shuts off the gas and power, who helps the older person or someone with reduced mobility, who gets the pets out. A task with no owner is a task no one does.
4. Keep the list on paper. Phone numbers for family, the out-of-area contact, the doctor, the school, insurance, and emergency services. On paper, in the emergency bag, and in your wallet. A phone with a dead battery has no address book.
5. Practice it once. A fifteen-minute drill reveals what the conversation does not: that the emergency bag was buried in the closet, that no one knows where the gas shutoff is, that the child does not remember the meeting point. Repeat it at least once a year and whenever something important at home changes.

When the problem is water, not heat. A prolonged drought doesn't cut off supply overnight: first come hourly restrictions, then rationing schedules, and finally long shutoffs. What you do in the first phase is what decides how you get through the third.

• Store water in clean, covered, opaque containers, and label them with the date.
• Keep drinking water separate from water for cleaning and sanitation from the start: they're not stored the same way, and you don't need the same amount of each.
• Fix leaks right away. A steady drip can add up to dozens of liters a day that you will never get back.
• Reuse rinse water from laundry and produce for flushing toilets.
• If supply is on a rationing schedule, use the hours when water is running to fill everything, not just to use it directly.
• If the water turns cloudy or the authorities issue a notice, treat it before drinking it: the official boiling and chlorination procedure is in the infrastructure crisis guide.

When the cell network is overloaded: text, do not call

The joint FCC and FEMA guide explains why: "text messages may get through when your call does not", even if delivery is delayed when the network is congested. And it asks for something almost no one does: "limit non-emergency calls", because every call takes up space that emergency communications need. Also save a contact under the name "ICE" (In Case of Emergency), the convention rescue personnel look for on someone else's phone.

How to stretch your battery

The same guide recommends lowering screen brightness and turning off apps to conserve charge. In an emergency your phone stops being entertainment and becomes your only line to the outside world: treat it like your water supply.

The battery-powered radio is still irreplaceable

The FCC and FEMA recommend a battery-powered radio or a portable television to follow emergency bulletins during power outages. It is the only channel that depends on neither your electricity nor the cell network.

The alerts you already have and did not know about

In the United States, Wireless Emergency Alerts are free messages that go straight to your phone for severe weather, AMBER alerts, and threats to safety in your area. Two things worth knowing: you do not need to sign up —phones have supported them since 2012— and they are not affected by network congestion, so they get through when calls no longer do. Find out what the equivalent system is in your country, and do not mute it.

• Have at least one light source that does not depend on the grid: a battery-powered or hand-crank flashlight, or a rechargeable lamp.
• Charge phones and backup batteries before the forecast event arrives, not after the power is already out.
• Keep a list of important phone numbers on paper: if your phone dies, your contacts die with it.
• Agree with your family that after an emergency everyone texts the same contact instead of calling each other.

This is the section that decides who has a hard time and who has a dangerously hard time. An emergency does not suspend diabetes, high blood pressure, pregnancy, or dependence on an oxygen concentrator: what gets cut off is access to the pharmacy, the clinic, and electricity. Everything that follows needs to be prepared beforehand, because once the emergency hits, there is no more room.

1. Keep a reserve of your medications, and know which ones hold up. Ready.gov calls for a several-day supply of prescription medications. For those that need refrigeration, the CDC is blunt: once the power has been out for a day or more, discard any medication that requires refrigeration, unless its label says otherwise.
2. The insulin exception, worth knowing word for word. The FDA documents that insulin in the manufacturer's original vials or cartridges —opened or unopened— can stay unrefrigerated between 15 and 30 °C (59 and 86 °F) for up to 28 days and still work. It loses effectiveness at extreme temperatures, and the longer the exposure, the less effective it becomes. In an emergency "you may still need to use insulin that was stored above 30 °C" —that is better than not using it at all— but as soon as proper storage is available again, those vials should be discarded and replaced.
3. If someone depends on electric medical equipment, there is one step almost no one takes. Ready.gov says it explicitly: you can ask your power company to put you on a priority list for service restoration. That step is free, can be done on any ordinary day, and changes the order in which you get reconnected. Add a backup battery for an electric wheelchair and for any assistive device, and talk with your doctor about how to keep the equipment running during a power outage.
4. Keep a copy of medical information, not just the pills. A list of medications with dosages, allergies, diagnoses, doctors' contact information, and —for infants— the vaccination record. A prescription bottle cannot always be refilled at a pharmacy in another city; a written list can solve that.

Pregnancy and newborns

The CDC calls for prenatal vitamins and other medications in the kit, plus supplies in case delivery happens without being able to reach a hospital: clean towels, clean sharp scissors, a bulb syringe, gloves, two clean white shoelaces to tie the cord, clean sheets, sanitary pads, soap or alcohol, and garbage bags. For infants: diapers, wipes, ointment, bottles, and formula. One detail that matters: ready-to-feed formula is the safest option in an emergency, because it does not need to be mixed with water and comes in sterile, single-use containers.

Disability, reduced mobility, and older adults

Ready.gov stresses planning accessible transportation in advance for evacuating or getting around, and including a service or support animal with its food, water, and supplies. That plan should be worked out with specific, named neighbors, not left vague.

The blow that comes later: mental health

The CDC names the normal reactions after a disaster —fear, anger, sadness, worry, numbness, frustration, trouble sleeping, or nightmares— and recommends taking care of your body, staying in touch with other people, and taking breaks from the news. In the United States and its territories, the Disaster Distress Helpline is available 24 hours a day: 1-800-985-5990, with service in Spanish. Asking for help here is not weakness: it is part of recovery, just like repairing the roof.

1. Before you go back in: look, smell, and listen from outside. The CDC lays it out this way: if you smell gas or suspect a leak, shut off the main valve, open all the windows, and get out immediately. If there is standing water inside and you can cut the power from a dry spot, do it. And one simple warning that prevents explosions and fires: use battery-powered flashlights, not candles, gas lanterns, or torches.
2. Ventilate before you settle in. The CDC recommends going in briefly to open doors and windows, and letting the house air out for at least 30 minutes before staying inside.
3. Shutting off utilities: when to do it, and the mistake you cannot make. Gas has a rule with no exceptions: if you shut it off for any reason, only a qualified professional can turn it back on. Never turn it back on yourself. Electricity is shut off by switching off the individual circuits first and the main breaker last —the order matters, because an electrical spark can ignite gas if there is a leak—. Water should be shut off if pipes may have cracked, because that contaminates the house supply, and should not be turned back on until authorities confirm it is safe to drink.
4. Go back only when authorities say it is safe. It sounds obvious, and it is the instruction people break most often: go back home only when authorities say it is safe. Structural damage is not always visible from the street.

• Make a photo inventory of what is in each room today: it takes twenty minutes and is worth its weight in gold for a claim.
• Keep that inventory and your policies outside the house —in the cloud or with a family member— because a file that gets soaked along with the house is useless.
• If you have to leave, take your documents with you, not your furniture.
• Do not sign anything with a contractor while you are in shock: check the money section for the warning signs of fraud.

The documents you need to protect today

The official recommendation is to keep insurance policies, deeds, property records, and other important papers in a safe place outside the house. FEMA publishes the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit for this, organized into four sections: household identification, financial and legal documentation, medical information, and contacts. Its rule for paper: a fireproof and waterproof box or safe, a bank safe-deposit box, or in the hands of someone you trust. For digital files: password-protected files on an external drive or in secure storage outside the home. And if you pay everything online, print your account records periodically.

An emergency fund, even a small one

The CFPB avoids magic formulas: "the amount you need depends on your situation", but "even a small amount can provide some financial security". Its underlying argument is the one that matters: without that cushion, a single unexpected expense can grow far larger than the original bill through interest and fees, because it forces you to rely on credit.

A drought doesn't hit all at once, and that's why its demand is different: it isn't urgency, it's sustained adaptation. What people buy isn't an emergency service but ways to need less water or make better use of what there is.

• Leak repair: it's the service with the best return for the customer, because a small leak pays for itself through the water bill.
• Rainwater-catchment installation: gutters, filters, and storage.
• Drip irrigation systems for gardens, yards, and small plots.
• Graywater reuse from the washing machine and shower for irrigation and toilets.
• Cleaning and sealing of cisterns and rooftop tanks, so stored water isn't lost.
• Low-water landscaping: replacing lawn with native plants.
• Household filters to make long-stored water safe to drink.

It helps to start with one figure to size up what we're talking about: according to the ILO, informality affects nearly half of the employed population of Latin America and the Caribbean, around 47%, with huge differences between countries — under 30% in Uruguay and Chile, over 70% in Bolivia and Peru. For millions of families in the region, "looking for a job" and "starting something on your own" are the same sentence. What follows is not a promise of income: it is a map of what people actually do when a crisis hits, with the requirements and the risks laid out plainly.

Leak detection and repair

It's the most profitable trade in a drought because the sales pitch is simple math: the repair pays for itself out of what the customer stops paying. Start with the simple stuff — faucets, washers, tank floats, connections — which solves most cases without specialized equipment. Track consumption before and after: that number is your best advertising for the next customer.

Rain catchment and drip irrigation

It requires more investment (gutters, tank, filter, drip hose, timer) and precisely because of that there's less competition. It works well with family gardens, schools, and small growers. Always quote the follow-up maintenance: a catchment system with unclean filters stops working within one season, and that recurring service is what sustains the business.

Graywater reuse

Redirecting water from the washing machine and shower to irrigation or the toilet saves an enormous volume. Two limits worth respecting: graywater can't be stored for days because it goes bad and becomes a health hazard, and it shouldn't be used on vegetables eaten raw. Check your local ordinance before modifying any drain line.

United States — SBA disaster loans

For areas with a declared disaster. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) provides working capital for affected small businesses and nonprofit organizations; the physical damage loan covers losses not covered by insurance. Combined cap of $2 million, interest not exceeding 4% if you cannot obtain credit elsewhere, terms of up to 30 years, and the first payment deferred 12 months. There is also a line for homeowners (up to $500,000) and for renters for personal property (up to $100,000).

Mexico — what actually exists today

FONDEN stopped taking on new commitments on January 1, 2021. What operates today in emergencies is PAEAN, run by Civil Protection, and it is worth knowing exactly what it is and is not: it delivers relief supplies — food kits, water, blankets, roofing sheets, cleaning materials — when a state's own capacity is overwhelmed. It is not a reconstruction fund or a loan for your business. For capital, look at state, municipal, or development-bank programs, always verifying on the official website: fraud schemes that use its name circulate around these programs.

Brazil — Pronampe for micro and small businesses

A credit line for microenterprises (annual revenue up to 360,000 reais) and small businesses (from 360,000 to 4.8 million). The amount can reach up to 60% of the previous year's gross revenue for businesses with more than one year in operation, and up to 50% for new ones. The maximum rate is the SELIC rate plus up to 6% per year.

Two cases: one about heat, one about water.

Pacific Northwest heat dome, June 25–30, 2021

Temperatures of 106 to 117°F (41–47°C) in a region where air conditioning was uncommon. Oregon confirmed 83 deaths as of July 26, 2021, ranging in age from 37 to 97. Washington State recorded 157 heat-related deaths between June 26 and August 30, 2021, of which 68 occurred on June 28 and 29 alone, and 47% of the victims were between 65 and 79 years old. The two states' figures aren't directly comparable because they cover different time windows. The lesson: deaths were concentrated among older people, at home, without air conditioning. Identifying ahead of time who lives alone without cooling, and placing cooling centers where those people can actually reach them, saves more lives than any general alert.

São Paulo water crisis, 2014–2015 — the urban drought

The Cantareira system, which supplies around 6 million people in the metropolitan region plus another 5 million in nearby basins, fell to 27.2% of capacity in January 2014 and reached 0% by May of that year, forcing the use of the technical reserves at the bottom of the reservoirs. The Alto Tietê system dropped from 46.3% to 4.4% in a single year. The city of Itu experienced water shutoffs of up to 30 days between February and December 2014. The lesson: an entire metropolis can run out of margin. No longer treating water as an infinite resource, and building storage — household and public — before the crisis hits, is the only thing that buys you time once it does.

Related guides on this site:

• Wildfires — prolonged drought is their prelude.
• Power outage — extreme heat brings down the grid right when it's needed most.
• Infrastructure crisis — how to purify water at home.
• Food crisis — drought pushes up food prices months later.