PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia region is experiencing the lowest temperatures in more than two years. With such dangerously cold conditions, the city and surrounding communities are taking special precautions to help keep residents warm, with a focus on the unhoused.
A cold weather advisory remains in effect for Delaware, South Jersey, and Southeast Pennsylvania until noon Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Wind chills could be as low as 5 degrees below zero, leaving exposed skin vulnerable to hypothermia and frostbite.
It has not been this cold in Philadelphia since Christmas Eve 2022, according to the National Weather Service. The deep freeze is expected to continue through Wednesday morning, and temperatures are expected to return above the freezing mark on Thursday.
Officials in Philadelphia and each of the city’s collar counties issued a Code Blue in an effort to get people who are homeless off the streets and into a shelter. With a Code Blue activation in Philadelphia, officials do a number of things.
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“The city adds additional outreach teams on the street to be able to check in with individuals,” said Cheryl Hill with the Office of Homeless Services. “We add additional shelter beds.”
In addition, 20 warming centers are open in Philadelphia for city residents — not just those who are homeless — who need a place to go during the day, said Hill.
Warming centers are “locations all across the city where people can come in if they just need a place to get warm — whether they’re unsheltered or just someone who maybe lost power or just need some additional resources,” she explains.
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“There are 20 that are open throughout the day. Two of them are 24 hours, and the others operate on 12-hour intervals.”
She says in addition to the homeless outreach system they have in place, the police and the fire department engage with individuals they see on the street.
Anyone who sees an unhoused person who needs shelter is encouraged to call the city’s homeless service hotline at 215-232-1984
“If you are not sure if you want to engage you can still call that number there will be an outreach team that comes out.”
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