Phoenix Faces a Deadly Hurricane Katrina of Heat: Mark Gongloff

In his must-read book The Heat Will Kill You First, author Jeff Goodell talks to an Arizona State University infrastructure expert about the likelihood of a “Hurricane Katrina of extreme heat,” an event in which a power failure during a heat wave kills thousands of people, with government authorities dangerously unprepared.

The expert calls such an event about as likely as another intense hurricane hitting New Orleans: “It’s more a question of when, not if.”

As a matter of fact, a Heat Katrina may already be happening, just in slow motion. In Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to the capital of ...