How Chicago’s Approach to Extreme Heat Has Evolved Since the Deadly 1995 Heat Wave: A Look at Cooling Centers, OEMC, and Air Conditioning

CHICAGO (WLS) — It was 30 years ago this week that the deadly heat wave of 1995 hit Chicago.

It changed how the city responds to emergencies.

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ABC7 explored how the tragic event prompted the creation of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), highlighting its ongoing importance.

The 1995 heat wave is known as one of the most fatal weather-related calamities in the U.S. At that time, the OEMC hadn’t been formed yet, but important lessons were learned after these events.

In July 1995, the sun and warm temperatures turned into blistering heat.

“It was almost like everyone was taken by surprise after about two days, when 911 calls surged, and we witnessed a significant increase in fatalities,” explained Kaila Lariviere from the OEMC.

While many healthy young people found reprieve on the lakefront, many vulnerable people, including the elderly population, were suffering in silence, because they did not have access to air conditioning.

“It really seems like everyone was just kind of excited for the heat, and then before they knew it, it was really bad,” Lariviere said.

Triple-digit temperatures for several days in a row became a crisis for Chicagoans confined to their homes. And as the casualties mounted, it overwhelmed the city’s services. They had to bring in trucks to store the bodies at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“What we learned following the ’95 heat wave is there’s things we could’ve done better as a city coming together,” Lariviere said.

READ MORE | 30 years later: Organizers remember 1995 heat wave victims, advocate for vulnerable Chicagoans

These days, the OEMC is where everyone comes together. The office coordinates with the city, county, state, and other agencies, like ComEd.

“We’re shoulder-to-shoulder with the city to understand, what are their priorities with outages,” said ComEd Vice President Nichole Owens.

Each organization can coordinate a measured response while looking at what’s going in real time from 35,000-plus cameras in the city.

“Well, we, certainly now, we have caravans that we use. That’s another learning from the incident, where sometimes we have to take resources such as water, such as ice, to different locations,” Owens said.

Since 1995, many more changes have been implemented to mitigate the number of heat-related deaths:

• There is a coordinated “Wellness Check” system for the city’s most vulnerable, collaborating with churches and non-profits to do door knocks.




• City 311 Services were enhanced.




• Cooling centers are open across the city and suburbs during extreme heat.




• The city is “greener” with more trees and green roofs to combat urban heat.




• A citywide heat emergency plan was established that includes issuing public alerts.

“I’m not going to let 1995, the 1995 heat wave happen again on my watch, at least the outcomes of it,” Lariviere said.

Of course, it is impossible to know, but officials believe if the OEMC had existed in its current form back in 1995, most if not all of the 739 lives lost could have been saved.

RELATED | 30 years later: How deadly 1995 heat wave led to formation of Chicago’s OEMC

The OEMC was not fully operational until months after the deadly heat wave.

Now, 911, 311, and emergency management are all under one roof, coordinating the city’s response to everything from severe weather to large-scale public events like Lollapalooza and parades.