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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Winter chill has homeless seeking shelter


Nichole Walker, 20, finds shelter at the House of Charity on Thursday. Walker has had shelter for a month at the Hope House since becoming homeless.
Christopher Rodkey Staff writer

As snowstorm after snowstorm punches the region, Spokane-area homeless shelters are readying for what could be the first test of a new city plan to get more people out of the cold.

The idea, inspired by a similar plan in Toronto and approved by the Spokane City Council last month, puts a coordinated effort behind a once-informal process. If the temperature or wind chill is predicted to dip below 10 degrees, homeless shelters can exceed their occupancy limits, opening “warming centers,” where people can rest on the floor without fear of being cited.

“What we’re doing is opening a door that already exists and giving access to a floor or bench that already exists,” said Michael Cain, the program coordinator for Spokane’s House of Charity.

Although temperatures have yet to drop low enough to activate the rule, officials say it appears to be drawing nearer as winter weather continues to batter the Inland Northwest.

Heavy snowfall Thursday again made afternoon and evening drives slick. Still, drivers appeared to be handling the ice much better than they did Tuesday when a snow caused hundreds of collisions in Spokane County alone.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported a quiet Thursday evening with few crashes. Portions of Grand Boulevard and Ray Street – steep roads on Spokane’s South Hill – both were closed at times.

In North Idaho, authorities urged motorists to stay home, and the Idaho State Patrol responded to six collisions Thursday that resulted in more than $750 in damage. No serious injuries were reported.

Accumulations varied widely in Spokane from about an inch to close to five inches, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Lericos said late Thursday. An official count for Coeur d’Alene had not been received, but Kellogg received eight inches, Lericos said.

Some Eastern Washington schools closed early, while others canceled extracurricular afternoon activities.

Despite the improvement in drivers’ ability to miss each other, many victims of slide-offs and minor crashes had to wait for help Thursday. Tow truck operators were overwhelmed, and AAA declared “emergency only” status for its tow truck contractors, said Rick Anderson, owner of Coeur d’Alene’s Sunset Towing and Taxi. The emergency-only towing declaration was the first in at least three years, Anderson said.

The tow truck dispatcher was fielding a steady stream of calls as the flakes began falling midafternoon.

Around the region, other agencies were quick to react to the latest snowstorm.

Snow caused District 81 to cancel after-school activities for elementary and middle schools, and other districts throughout Eastern Washington ended school early to allow buses a chance to get kids home.

Meanwhile, the forecast showed temperatures could dive low enough early next week, if not earlier, to trigger the loosened occupancy rules for Spokane shelters.

A push of cold air may sneak across the Rocky Mountains, said meteorologist Bob Tobin of the National Weather Service. Early estimates give Monday a low temperature of 17 degrees, and with winds predicted to be 5 to 10 mph, the wind chill could drop to 5 to 9 degrees, he said.

Though the forecast is still too far out for to make a definitive call on opening the warming center, “we would have enough room downstairs to hold all the homeless people that would conceivably come here,” said Cain, of the House of Charity in Spokane.

When the cold hits, other shelters in the area will work with a central coordination center run by the Salvation Army to help place people in shelters and determine which shelters have space at the moment.

“Space really isn’t an issue when it comes to the warming center,” he said.