Life on the streets of Los Angeles is dangerous at the best of times; add on torrential rains, frigid nights and whipping winds and it can prove deadly.
“It’s not just rain, it’s actually a cold rain and people can die out there it’s that cold, especially the later it gets at night,” said Troy Vaughn, CEO and president of Los Angeles Mission, which operates a shelter in Skid Row.
Fortunately, the city and county network of homeless services providers has jumped into emergency mode, rapidly ramping up shelter capacity to make sure everyone who wants to come inside can access a warm, dry bed. The rainstorm began on Sunday and is not forecasted to taper off until Wednesday.
Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) activated its Augmented Winter Shelter Program, which provides motel vouchers to move people inside during storms. The program served 5,402 people last winter.
LAHSA also opened 300 emergency beds at four sites operated by City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation. These pop-up shelters are scheduled to remain in operation through Feb. 8, but may stay open longer if the inclement weather persists.
On Sunday, Downtown Los Angeles smashed its record for most rainfall ever recorded on Feb. 4. with a total of 4.10 inches — significantly more than the previous record of 2.55 inches set on Feb. 4, 1927, according to the National Weather Service. That dealt a heavy blow to the roughly 4,400 homeless in Downtown’s Skid Row.
“Streets are flooded, people’s tents are being damaged, especially the more makeshift tents, those are really not surviving the weather,” said Vaughn.
The Los Angeles Mission has almost doubled its capacity by adding 325 cots on top of its 400 permanent beds. On Sunday night, 237 emergency cots were occupied and Vaughn expects even more to be in use tonight. The Mission is also dispatching outreach teams every hour to distribute dry clothes and blankets and encourage people to…
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