Waze should add Extreme Temperature events to the Crisis Response process. As extreme heat events and extreme cold events become more and more frequent, citizens are going to increasingly need to find and navigate to Cooling Centers and Warming Centers that local governments and emergency planners open when the weather gets too hot or too cold. These types of extreme temperature events often put a big strain on power grids, and when temperatures reach dangerous levels, they need to quickly find shelter from the extreme temperatures. Many people have reliable heating and cooling at home, but unless they have backup generators too, they can fall victim to the weather without a safe shelter to go to.

I propose that Waze add Extreme Temperature Crisis Response as a separate category, as the current crisis response feature is not well suited for extreme temperature events (if we tried using the current feature, it would probably confuse too many Wazers).

Extreme temperature crisis response will require specific messaging; "Need directions to a shelter?" is perhaps too vague during an extreme temperature event, as most people take for granted that they have access to heating or cooling. Instead the push notifications should prompt "Need directions to a cooling center?" when it is very hot and "Need directions to a warming center?" when it is very cold.

A proposed new place category such as "Cooling / Heating Center" could be used when adding these types of emergency shelters to the maps. "Cooling Center" and "Heating Center" could perhaps be used as Alt-Names for the places.

I have set up some example places in the City of Pittsburgh, which are easily found by searching for "Cooling Center". The City of Pittsburgh is opening several cooling centers throughout the city this week as a result of extreme heat expected in the region this week. Any time the forecast temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the city opens its cooling centers with extended hours.

Extreme heat is the biggest killer in the U.S. and Waze's crisis response functionality can help save lives if changes are made to the feature to specifically address extreme temperature events.