Houston Opens Area Warming Centers Amid Winter Storm

(TNS) — Houstonians woke up to snow and ice Tuesday morning as temperatures remained around the upper 20s.

In preparation for another round of cold weather, Houston opened 10 warming centers Sunday night with some Harris County precincts and Fort Bend County officials also announcing designated warming centers.

The warming centers will be open at the following locations in Houston:

• Acres Home Multi-Service Center at 6719 W. Montgomery Road
• Northeast Multi-Service Center at 9720 Spaulding St.
• Kashmere Multi-Service Center at 4802 Lockwood Dr.
• Moody Community Center at 3725 Fulton St.
• Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center at 6402 Market St.
• Fonde Community Center at 110 Sabine St.
• Metropolitan Multi-Service Center at 1475 W. Gray St.
• Southwest Multi-Service Center at 6400 High Star Dr.
• Magnolia Multi-Service Center at 7037 Capitol St.
• Sunnyside Multi-Service Center at 4410 Reed Road

The warming centers will be open 2 4/7 until mid-day Thursday, though the schedule is subject to change. Those heading to a warming center are allowed to bring their belongings, and each center will be staffed with health and public safety personnel, according to a news release from the Office of Emergency Management .

Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis announced also the following locations as warming centers between Monday to Tuesday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. :

• Tom Bass Community Center at 15108 Cullen Blvd
• Finningan Community Center at 4900 Providence St.
• Lincoln Park Community Center at 979 Grenshaw St.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones announced also the following locations as warming centers between Monday to Wednesday from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. :

• Bayland Community Center at 6400 Bissonnet St.
• Burnett Bayland Community Center at 6026 Chimney Rock Road
• Steve Radack Community Center at 18650 Clay Road

The YMCA of Greater Houston also announced using YMCA locations as warming centers starting Monday during operating hours. Visitors can use the lobby, charge their electronic devices, take classes, visit Child Watch, take a shower and more.

All facilities will close at 4 p.m. Monday and plans to reopen noon Wednesday.

Amid the Houston area officials' announcements, Fort Bend County Judge KP George also announced an updated schedule for the warming centers on social media. These locations will be open until 6 p.m. Monday

• Fulshear Branch Library at 6350 GM Library Road in Fulshear
• George Memorial Library at 1001 Golfview Dr. , in Richmond
• Mission Bend Branch Library at 8421 Addicks Clodine Road in Houston
• Missouri City Branch Library at 1530 Texas Pkwy., in Missouri City

Fort Bend County will also have an overnight warming center from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. at Attack Poverty — Friends of North Rosenberg on 1908 Avenue E , Rosenberg .

Galveston County has the following warming centers open:

• Our Daily Bread at 2420 Winnie St. in Galveston from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. , Monday and Tuesday
• Salvation Army 601 51st St. in Galveston , open 24 hours
• Art of Coffee Building at 401 Laurel St. in La Marque , open until Thursday
• St. George Episcopal Church at 510 13th Ave N in Texas City , open 24 hours
• Faith Assembly Church at 825 Grand Ave. in Bacliff , open 24 hours
• Santa Fe High School cafeteria at 16000 Hwy 6 in Santa Fe , open 8 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Last week's cold snap ended with at least one death of a man at a Metro bus stop. Mayor John Whitmire said this week the man had been offered help and refused it, and was likely experiencing mental health issues.

"Obviously, we'll be challenged to work with those that refuse to come in out the weather. But (we have) such an excellent team," Whitmire said. "We have to be diligent. We need to have fun on Sunday, but then we will immediately shift into the focus of the weather that we're going to have to deal with."

Houston operates with the most stringent warming center opening policy of all the major Texas metros. Most large cities across the state open their centers when the temperatures hover around freezing.

But in Houston , officials will only open warming centers if the temperature hits 24 degrees for two hours or more, or if there's a 15 degree windchill for two hours or more.

Whitmire on Wednesday said officials "worked around" the policy to provide anyone who needed shelter a place to go, and made note that the rule was from the prior administration.

On Friday, Whitmire further clarified the city did not have any plans to change the policy.

"We do not govern ourselves by what other people have done ... we're way ahead of previous practice," Whitmire said, adding that the city wasn't governed by rules that were "very arbitrary."

The mayor said any three council members can propose a change under Proposition A.

Former Mayor and now- U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner told the Houston Chronicle on Friday evening that the warming center threshold policy was never something his administration stuck to stringently. He said the city always opened warming centers when the temperature dipped too low.

"For over 1 year Mayor Whitmire has criticized others for his failure to manage the City," Turner wrote in a subsequent post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "Blaming others for what he failed to do like opening shelters when it was freezing cold is not good leadership."

Former Fire Chief Sam Peña said the decision to open warming centers while he was a part of Turner's administration was often made on the fly and that officials weren't bound by any restrictions.

"I mean, 30 degrees, that's enough to freeze somebody, especially if you have some precipitation," Peña said.

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