Emergency shelters and warming centers that have stayed open throughout a long week of cold temperatures are beginning to feel the strain as extreme lows are expected again Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re tired, but we’re happy that we’re helping people,” said Roxanne Carelli, executive director of operational development and shelter services at Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless. “We are surviving it.”
The weather service issued a cold weather advisory for Vermont, warning residents that temperatures would plummet Thursday evening and stay low into Friday morning, capping off a frigid week that began with season low temperatures last weekend. Negative temperatures are expected statewide with some areas facing minus 20 to minus 30 windchills, according Matthew Clay, meteorologist at the weather service.
Clay advised people, especially those commuting Friday morning, to limit exposure to the elements as much as possible, saying that temperatures this low can cause serious injury to unprotected extremities in just 30 minutes.
The extreme cold shelter in Bennington was open all but one night over the past week and is expected to be open into the weekend, according to Carelli. The volume of cold nights this week has left the small shelter staff stretched thin with most workers, including Carelli, taking multiple overnight shifts throughout the week.
Montpelier’s emergency shelter has been open a week straight for those seeking warmth, according to Jay Voorhees, member of the board of the Montpelier Emergency Cold Weather Shelter.
“Folks are getting a little tired,” said Voorhees. “It’s been an every-night thing for quite some time.”
In the past two weeks, the shelter has been closed for only two days. Staffing the shelter with volunteers has become more difficult when low temperatures have continued for so long. But Voorhees said that the shelter has never had to close because of staffing, and he does not expect that to change.
As temperatures rise back up later into the next week, road conditions could become more of a concern. Road salt is less effective in extremely cold weather, but as temperatures climb out of the negatives, snow and slick roads could become more of a concern for drivers, and the effects of salt shortages in Vermont could become more pronounced.
Vermont’s state run snow plow fleet has enough salt in stock for the foreseeable future, according to Ernie Patnoe, director of maintenance for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. But municipal services have reported shortages this season, making smaller city and town streets more treacherous.
Rutland City, Middlebury, and Burlington are among communities impacted by the shortage, according to reporting by Vermont Public Radio and WCAX. Gov. Phil Scott declared the shortage an emergency earlier in the month, increasing the number of hours salt delivery truck drivers could work.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation said that it had asked its road salt supplier to divert 2,500 tons to the neediest towns.
