Community preparedness — Arizona
Extreme heat, monsoon flash floods, haboobs, wildfire, and drought. Arizona's hazards are brutal and fast. University of Arizona Extension in all 15 counties, CERT programs across the Valley and beyond, and weather spotters who track dust walls and microbursts. Here's how to connect.
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CERT trainings, canning workshops, ham radio exams, garden workdays, first aid classes. Events from local organizations that build community resilience.
15
County extension offices
3
NWS forecast offices
30+
Amateur radio clubs
3
Red Cross chapters
Where to plug in
Arizona faces extreme heat that kills more people than any other weather hazard, monsoon storms that produce flash floods and dust storms in minutes, wildfires in the high country, and drought that strains water systems. The organizations below train people for these specific conditions, from the Sonoran Desert to the Colorado Plateau.
The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension operates offices in all 15 Arizona counties. Extension programming is adapted to the state's extreme conditions: desert-adapted gardening, water-wise landscaping, low-water food production, food preservation in high heat, wildfire defensible space, and 4-H youth development. Maricopa County Extension (Phoenix metro) is one of the largest county programs in the western United States.
The Master Gardener program teaches growing in Arizona's unique climate zones — from the low desert of Phoenix and Tucson to the high desert of Prescott and the alpine conditions of Flagstaff. The Master Watershed Steward program teaches water conservation and watershed management in a state where water is the defining resource challenge. Extension also partners with tribal communities across Arizona on agriculture, nutrition, and natural resource programs.
The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program. DEMA works through county and tribal emergency management offices and maintains the state emergency operations center. Arizona's emergency management system addresses the full range of state hazards: extreme heat events, monsoon flooding, wildfire, dam safety, and hazmat incidents along major transportation corridors.
CERT programs are active across the Phoenix metro (Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe), Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott, and Yuma. Arizona CERT training includes standard modules plus emphasis on heat emergency response, dust storm safety, and flash flood awareness. Maricopa County runs one of the most active CERT programs in the Southwest. Training is free and typically runs 8 sessions.
Three Red Cross chapters serve Arizona: the Grand Canyon Chapter (Phoenix metro and central Arizona), the Southern Arizona Chapter (Tucson and southeastern Arizona), and the Northern Arizona Chapter (Flagstaff, Prescott, and the high country). All offer first aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes year-round. In Arizona, heat safety and hydration awareness are woven into Red Cross programming.
Arizona's Red Cross chapters respond to home fires year-round and deploy for wildfire evacuations in the high country during summer. The Grand Canyon Chapter also runs extensive heat relief programs during summer months, staffing cooling stations and distributing water. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, feeding, and blood drives.
Arizona has over 30 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Arizona Section, part of the Southwestern Division. ARES teams here are activated for monsoon storms, wildfire evacuations, and search-and-rescue operations in the vast desert and mountain backcountry. During wildfire events in the Prescott, Flagstaff, and Payson areas, ham operators have provided critical communications for evacuation coordination when cell towers were threatened.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org, then find a local exam session. Clubs in Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Scottsdale, Flagstaff, Prescott, and Yuma host exams regularly. The Superstition Hamfest in Mesa is one of the largest in the Southwest.
Three NWS forecast offices serve Arizona: Phoenix (central and southwestern Arizona, including the Phoenix metro and the Sonoran Desert), Tucson (southeastern Arizona and the Sky Islands), and Flagstaff (northern Arizona, the Colorado Plateau, and the Grand Canyon region). Each office runs SKYWARN spotter training, typically before the July monsoon season.
Arizona's monsoon season (mid-June through September) produces haboobs — massive dust storms that reduce visibility to near zero — along with microbursts, flash flooding, and lightning. Flash floods kill more people in Arizona than any other weather event because desert washes can fill from wall to wall in minutes from rain falling miles upstream. Trained spotters report real-time conditions that help the NWS issue timely flash flood and dust storm warnings. Training is free and runs about 2 hours.
Arizona has over 200 public library locations overseen by the Arizona State Library. The Phoenix Public Library, Pima County Public Library (Tucson), and Maricopa County Library District serve the largest populations. Arizona libraries are critical community infrastructure during extreme heat: many serve as cooling centers during summer months when outdoor temperatures exceed 110°F for weeks at a time. Libraries also host gardening workshops, financial literacy classes, and community meeting space.
The Maricopa County Community College District operates 10 colleges across the Phoenix metro — one of the largest community college systems in the country. Pima Community College (Tucson), Coconino Community College (Flagstaff), and Yavapai College (Prescott) serve other regions. These institutions offer affordable continuing education in EMT certification, fire science, welding, HVAC, electrical work, and other trades critical to Arizona's economy.
Why this matters
In the summer of 2023, Phoenix endured a record-breaking heat wave: 31 consecutive days above 110°F, with nighttime temperatures that never dropped below 90. Maricopa County recorded over 640 heat-associated deaths that year. The victims were disproportionately unhoused, elderly, outdoor workers, and people without functioning air conditioning.
The community response was driven by organizations that had trained for exactly this kind of slow-motion disaster. The Red Cross and Salvation Army staffed cooling centers across the Valley. Faith-based organizations and mutual aid networks distributed water and checked on elderly neighbors. Libraries stayed open extended hours as refuge from the heat. CERT-trained volunteers in Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe assisted with wellness checks in senior housing complexes and mobile home parks.
Extension agents provided water-wise gardening education to help families maintain food production through the extreme heat. Community health workers fanned out through neighborhoods with the highest vulnerability. Ham radio operators monitored emergency channels during the peak heat days when outdoor infrastructure was under maximum stress.
Heat doesn't make headlines the way tornadoes and hurricanes do, but it kills more Americans than any other weather hazard. In Arizona, the organizations on this page are the difference between a neighbor who makes it through a 120-degree day and one who doesn't.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours