CHICAGO (WBBM) - Chicago's Office of Emergency Management has activated the city's extreme weather plan, as Chicago is enduring its biggest cold snap of the year so far.
Among the things they're dealing with are frozen pipes and heat complaints, and finding shelter and warming centers for those who need them. At 6:30 a.m., the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was 5 below zero with a wind chill of 21 below zero.
OEMC Executive Director Tony Ruiz told Newsradio 780 there have had a high number or shelter requests ... and more than 100 complaints of "no heat."
If you -- or someone you know -- needs a place to warm up, in Chicago call the city's non-emergency hotline 3-1-1; elsewhere in Illinois call 877-4-1-1-w-a-r-m.
The forecast high for the day in Chicago on Sunday was a mere 11 degrees. But with northwest winds at 20 to 25 mph, the wind chills will make it feel as cold as 15 to 25 below.
The last time temperatures dropped below zero was Feb. 16, 2007.
On any other Sunday morning, Michigan Avenue would be jumping with tourists, shoppers and area residents traveling on foot.
This Sunday, it's clear that many of those folks are staying indoors -- that includes the city's less fortunate.
Maurice was like dozens of other people huddled inside one of Chicago's warming centers Sunday morning; grateful to find shelter from the cold.
"It was cold. We had to wait in line. It was cold"
Saturday night, many of Chicago's homeless turned down pleas from city officials that they use some of the 5,000 beds available in area shelters.
"It's too much for me. I'm just hoping I can make it so I can get in a place. This ain't really for me," said Diane.
At the warming center at 10 S. Kedzie, officials said about 300 people welcomed the chance to take a break from the frigid temperatures outside Saturday.
Benjamin Alonzo, the center's director of emergency services, said Sunday that, "It's slowed down considerably from yesterday. Yesterday we had a very large volume of people."
Alonzo also said the reduced usage of that warming center Sunday may be due to the teams of workers who found "other" places for the homeless to go. The actual totals are bound to change quite a bit Sunday as the temperatures dip even lower.
For those who have no other places to go, the city operates five warming centers, and has also designated libraries, senior centers and police stations as places where chicagoans can get out of the cold.
The Garfield center, at 10 S. Kedzie Av., is open 24 hours. The other four warming centers, open until 8 p.m.:
•Northeast Levy Senior Center at 2019 W. Lawrence Av.; •Northwest Copernicus Senior Center at 3160 N. Milwaukee Av..; •Southwest Senior Center, at 6117 S. Kedzie AV., •Southeast Atlas Center, 1767 E. 79th St. •The Salvation Army has also opened two additional shelters for the weekend, in the Uptown neighborhood and on the Near West Side, for a total of 125 more beds.
"Warming centers are intended for daytime use," Department of Human Services managing deputy commissioner Jim Lobianco said. "People in need of a protected place to sleep are directed to the city's 100 overnight shelters."
Cook County has no reported weather related deaths so far this weekend. Despite pleas for the homeless to head indoors to sleep overnight, dozens upon dozens refused -- content with the places they call home in all kinds of weather.
Of 5,000 available shelter beds, officials say hundreds typically go used overnight even when the temperatures are this cold.
Lobianco said, "there is no reason for people to sleep on the street. We have room in the system. We can take people out of the cold and exposure that can be dangerous."
Officials said Chicago area hospitals were ready for cases of extreme frostbite and hypothermia and teams doing wellness checks were prepared to send out with nurses for those in medical distress.
The New Maxwell Street Market is closed because of the frigid temperatures. Vendors who have already paid can use the permits next Sunday. The market hasn't been closed for weather since February of last year.
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