The details
The city of Houston is expected to see a low of 29 degrees that night, according to the National Weather Service. Ahead of the cold weather, Whitmire said the city will open 10 overnight warming centers Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. and they will remain open 24/7 until midday Thursday, Jan. 23, to help shelter and keep Houstonians warm.
“I want to address that we’re doing everything as a city to prepare for this weather that’s moving in,” Whitmire said.
The city only opens warming centers when the weather is 24 degrees, or 15 degrees with windchill, for at least two hours or more, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
However, Whitmire said the city has never been governed by the policy, calling the threshold “arbitrary.” Although he said the city has no plans on changing the policy.
“I just want to get the job done; we are not regulated by previous rules that are very arbitrary,” Whitmire said. “We deal with human needs. We’re not paying attention to any previous threshold. We’re concerned about human beings.”
The 10 overnight warming centers that will open are:
- Acres Homes Multi-Service Center
- 6719 W. Montgomery Road, Houston
- Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center
- 6402 Market St., Houston
- Fonde Community Center
- 110 Sabine St., Houston
- Kashmere Multi-Service Center
- 4802 Lockwood Dr., Houston
- Metropolitan Multi-Service Center
- 1475 W. Gray St., Houston
- Moody Community Center
- 3725 Fulton St., Houston
- Northeast Multi-Service Center
- 9720 Spaulding St., Houston
- Southwest Multi-Service C tenter
- 6400 High Star Drive, Houston
- Sunnyside Multi-Service Center
- 4410 Reed Road, Houston
Also of note
