Los Angeles County Supervisors Take Precautions to Protect Homeless During Storm Season

By MARTIN HENDERSON (Patch Staff)

The Board of Supervisors agreed today to spend about $905,000 to open some homeless shelters six weeks earlier this winter and keep them open 24 hours a day during major storms.

Supervisor Hilda Solis proposed the plan, saying it was critical given the threat of a record-setting El Nino event.

“Recent storms felt throughout the county were mild in comparison to the potential devastation an El Nino event could cause this winter,” Solis said, noting some people had to be rescued from rushing water near Cypress Park and in Pomona and South El Monte during recent heavy rainfall.

“We need to be prepared and offer our most vulnerable shelter so they won’t sleep in riverbeds, where they face the possibility of being swept away by strong currents,” she said.

The plan, which covers 600 beds to be made available from Oct. 15 to March 15, will be coordinated by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The total represents nearly 40 percent of the roughly 1,520 winter shelter beds in the agency’s program.

City News Service