AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin said hundreds of people utilized cold weather shelters for people experiencing homelessness between Thursday evening and Tuesday morning.
“Over the past few days and into the holidays, staff – and our community partners – worked around the clock to ensure our City was prepared and that our most vulnerable populations had access to shelter,” said Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk. “Thank you to all those assisting with operations, coordinating logistics, providing education and outreach, working the Cold Weather Shelters and Warming Centers that served hundreds of our unhoused residents, and to our public safety staff who work day in and day out to keep our community safe.”
The number of people staying at cold weather shelters ranged from 459, on Friday, Dec. 23, to 115, on Monday Dec. 26. In total, 1,559 shelter stays were recorded between Thursday, Dec. 22, and Monday, Dec. 26, the City said.
To supplement the three cold weather shelters, four daytime warming centers were activated on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. to provide temporary relief from the cold. These were located at:
- Little Walnut Creek Branch Library (835 W. Rundberg Lane)
- Terrazas Branch Library (1105 E. Cesar Chavez St.)
- Turner Roberts Recreation Center (7201 Colony Loop Drive)
- George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center (5801 Ainez Drive)
The City said it communicated its plans to community partners who work directly with people experiencing homelessness, and it also sent communication directly to unhoused individuals who have registered to receive such information from the City.
In the days leading up to the incoming freeze, some expressed criticism of how and when the City informs people about cold weather shelters and warming centers.
As the Arctic blast stormed in, Andre Myers gathered what he needed to stay warm on the cold concrete.
"Of course I'm worried," Myers said. "I'm worried."
He was worried for his safety and those like him who don't have the basics, like shoes and a coat.
"Obviously, probably find some sort of structure to stay around to stay out of the wind," Mike Shehan said.
The City activates cold weather shelters no later than 9 a.m. each day, based on conditions meeting certain criteria. Cold weather shelters open when the forecast is predicted to be:
- 32 degrees or colder overnight
- 35 degrees with rain/wet
- 35 degrees with wind chill of 32 or colder
Later in the day, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., people can register to be taken to shelters if temperatures are expected to be below 32 degrees or 35 degrees with rain and wind.
"So, you literally have, you know, nine hours in order to go find people and get them to these shelters," Austin EMS Association President Selena Xie said.
Xie said the City needs to let people know earlier if shelters will be open, not on the day of a freeze.
"We should be able to have time to plan for that so that we can start getting out the word to our patients that are experiencing homelessness," Xie said. "A lot of them do not have cellphones."
"When people are, you know, sleeping in 17-, 13-degree temperatures, you get frostbite really quick," Xie added. "During the ice storm, we took so many people to the hospital that ended up having to get amputations. We can prevent that."
On Twitter, Councilmember Fuentes seconded Xie's comments. But her colleague, Mackenzie Kelly, feels differently.
"If we make the decision as a city by 9 a.m., that seems like plenty of notice for me," Kelly said.
Kelly said she does believe there should be more cold weather shelters.
"It is up to the city council if they are not pleased with the way that something's going to put forward policy to make a change," Kelly said.
On Wednesday, the City responded to the criticism it has received about its process.
"We are aware of conversations in the community requesting changes to our approach and operation. Operations vary from city to city and are often based on the resources available," the City said. "In Austin, for this activation, we are working to maximize our existing resources by using an embarkation point to facilitate entry into City operated shelters. This system has worked effectively during previous activations. We stress using the embarkation point to coordinate moving large numbers of people quickly to shelter facilities and minimize individual calls for assistance across the city. As an added measure, City of Austin first responders have a direct line to the EOC to coordinate entry to a shelter."
An internal audit this year revealed poor planning around emergency shelters in Austin. The audit showed there were four days that the City did not open shelters when it was supposed to. Austin Public Health determined that those days were considered "close calls," and that a group decision would need to be discussed. But the audit did not reveal the reason behind not opening shelters on those four days.