Prepare Students for Climate Hazards

Extreme heat, heavy precipitation, flooding, wildfire smoke, and other weather-related hazards can disrupt education and threaten student safety with little warning. The Fifth National Climate Assessment reports that the frequency, intensity, or duration of weather extremes is increasing across the United States, and related infrastructure and health risks are growing. 

Prepare for these hazards so students are not left without timely instructions, safe shelter, transportation, housing, or other essential support when conditions deteriorate. 

Creating a student-centered climate risk plan connects emergency management, facilities, student affairs, residence life, athletics, health services, transportation, communications, and academic continuity in one response. Residential K-12 schools, including independent boarding schools, also need to address many of the same concerns because students may depend on the school for housing, meals, transportation, supervision, and emergency support around the clock. 

Build Climate Hazards Into Your Emergency Plan 

Begin by identifying likely hazards including extreme heat, wildfire and smoke, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe storms, and winter weather. Local emergency management and National Weather Service information can help identify which hazards may affect your school or campus and which ones may arrive quickly or provide preparation time. 

For each hazard, document: 

• Who monitors conditions and who can activate the response plan
• What forecast, warning, air quality, or facility conditions trigger action
• Which buildings, activities, or student groups face the greatest exposure
• When to shelter, evacuate, cancel activities, close facilities, or suspend operations
• Who communicates decisions and coordinates with public agencies and other campus constituencies 

Incorporating predetermined responsibilities and triggers into your emergency plan can reduce delays when the conditions of identified hazards change quickly. They also make it less likely that individual employees will have to make high-stakes safety decisions without clear institutional guidance. 

When drafting or updating your plan, account for consequences such as power outages, blocked roads, loss of heating or cooling, and loss of access to safe drinking water. Consider how these conditions could require residence hall evacuations or the cancellation of outdoor classes, athletics, or events. Planning for these secondary effects helps protect students who may remain safe from the initial weather hazard but lose access to essential services afterward. 

Make Emergency Messages Actionable 

Prepare message templates before severe weather occurs. Your messages should tell recipients:  

• What the hazard is
• Where it is occurring
• Who is affected
• What action to take
• When to expect another update 

Clear instructions can prevent students from taking unsafe actions such as attempting to travel through flooded roads or leaving shelter before a severe weather threat has passed. 

Be prepared to use multiple communication channels because power, cellular service, or internet access may fail. Make messages accessible to students with disabilities and, where appropriate, available in languages your school community uses. Test message delivery systems regularly and maintain current contact information. Make everyone aware of how students will receive alerts. 

Colleges and universities subject to the Clery Act also must maintain emergency response and evacuation procedures. This includes an immediate campus community notification after confirming a significant emergency or dangerous situation that poses an immediate threat to health or safety on campus. You must test these emergency response and evacuation procedures at least annually.  

Plan Evacuation, Shelter, and Accountability 

Different climate events require different protective actions. A tornado may call for immediate interior shelter, while a wildfire or flood may require early evacuation. Wildfire smoke or extreme heat may require moving students to buildings with better filtration or cooling. 

Review your campus to identify: 

• Evacuation routes
• Shelter locations
• Transportation needs
• Assembly areas
• Backup power availability
• How to account for students  

Doing this before an emergency helps prevent students from becoming stranded, separated from their group, or moved to locations that cannot safely support them. If an extended campus evacuation is necessary, consider how you will help students in residence halls, students without cars, students who cannot return home, and students who may need temporary housing or transportation. 

K-12 schools should establish parent and caregiver communication and reunification procedures, including alternate sites. Residential and boarding schools also should plan for students who cannot safely leave campus or whose families cannot immediately reach them. 

Your plans also should include accessible transportation and evacuation assistance for students with mobility, sensory, cognitive, or medical needs. This planning will help reduce the risk that a student needing help is overlooked when rapid protective action is necessary. 

Set Heat and Smoke Triggers 

In the event of extreme heat or wildfires, do not require individual coaches, teachers, or event leaders to improvise when heat or air quality worsens. Use tools such as National Weather Service HeatRisk and the Air Quality Index to establish decision points for outdoor classes, athletics, recreation, fieldwork, and events. Consistent thresholds help institutions act before students experience preventable exposure rather than waiting until someone becomes ill. 

Determine who monitors heat and air conditions, when to modify or relocate activities, where students can cool down or find cleaner air, and who may cancel an activity. Facilities staff should inspect heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and filtration before wildfire season and identify cleaner air or cooling spaces. 

Residential schools and higher education institutions should have contingency plans for housing that loses cooling, power, or acceptable indoor air quality. Students living on campus may have no practical alternative location, making institutional planning especially important. 

Plan for Disruption and Recovery 

Student risk can continue after the immediate danger passes. In your plan, address continuity of instruction, temporary housing, meals, medication access, transportation, device charging, internet access, counseling, and emergency financial support. 

These measures can prevent an emergency from creating additional health or safety problems for students who depend on your institution for basic services. After flooding or smoke events, inspect affected facilities before reopening and address indoor air quality concerns. 

Disasters also can affect mental health and school performance. Make counseling and student support services part of recovery planning, and give academic leaders a process for temporary attendance, assignment, or other flexibility when students are displaced. 

Consider what works and what does not. Conducting regular drills or tabletop exercises for locally relevant hazards, including students when practical, can identify areas for improvement. Students may identify communication, transportation, housing, or accessibility assumptions that planners overlook. After an event or exercise, document what worked, what failed, and who owns corrective actions.  

More From UE  

Crisis Response: A Library of Tabletop Exercises — Climate-Related  

Assess Climate Impact on Campus  

Take Precautions Against Air Quality Concerns  

Additional Resources 

Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools — Fact Sheet: Preparing for Wildfires at K-12 Schools and Institutions of Higher Education 

DOJ Civil Rights Division — ADA and Emergency Planning   

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Children and School Preparedness  

Environmental Protection Agency — Schools as Cleaner Air and Cooling Centers: Tips for Facility Managers, Principals, Teachers, and Parents and Caregivers