Frigid temperatures, heavy rain and snow — and even hail — brought by a severe winter storm that will continue into the weekend has forced Southland residents to bunker in their homes.
But not everyone has a home in which to seek shelter.
While forecasters and government agencies have advised residents to avoid the outdoors as the worst of the storm makes its way along the West Coast, for the thousands who are homeless across Southern California — including nearly 70,000 in Los Angeles County alone — the options for shelter are limited.
In Long Beach, for example, about 100 people without shelter camped out under the awning of the Billie Jean King Main Library, in downtown, on Thursday evening, Feb. 23, in an attempt to keep safe.
Tony Johnson, who’s been without permanent shelter on and off for the past 10 years, was among them.
“We just try to stay warm and dry as best we can,” Johnson said on Friday morning.
Several local agencies have increased their outreach efforts this week to ensure those in danger of hypothermia or other health hazards are protected from the cold.
But the region, officials say, lacks the general infrastructure to handle such harsh winter conditions. And the infrastructure that exists is distributed unevenly. San Bernardino and Pasadena, for example, lack winter shelters entirely, while Los Angeles County’s homeless population is so large it’s unlikely near-unlimited resources would be enough to help everyone.
So many of those on the streets have no other recourse than to endure the tempest the best they can.
“There are fewer people experiencing homelessness who die of hypothermia in New York than there are in LA,” said Kimberly Roberts, deputy chief programs officer at the nonprofit LA Family Housing. “We see more health-related incidents as a result of cold and wet weather because we don’t have the shelter system that colder states and communities have actually established.
“We just don’t have that…
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