THURSDAY UPDATE — With the colder weather expected to hang around, Osceola County's Emergency Management team has extended the availability of cold weather shelters to Monday night, Jan. 19, starting at 6 p.m.
With some of the coldest air of the season expected to send low temperatures into the 30s in Osceola County this week, the county will open three cold-weather shelters the evenings of Thursday and Friday Jan. 15-16 and Sunday and Monday Jan. 18-19 for those experiencing homelessness or without warm shelter.
The locations are:
First United Methodist Church St. Cloud — 1000 Ohio Avenue, St. Cloud
Iglesia Del Nazareno Casa De Vida — 2367 Fortune Road, Kissimmee
Poinciana Christian Church — 3181 Pleasant Hill Road, Kissimmee/Poinciana
Faith-based organizations and non-profits are actively reaching out in areas where individuals experiencing homelessness are known to congregate, ensuring they are informed about the shelter availability and assisting with transportation logistics, officials added.
Those needing transportation to a shelter can ride LYNX buses with no charge by telling drivers they will be going to the cold weather shelter. For those with pets, they can be housed at Osceola Animal Services; animals other than service dogs will need to be in a carrier before they board.
Osceola County's cold weather protocol activates when overnight temperatures are expected to dip below 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than four hours. Low temperatures could approach 30 degrees Thursday night into Friday morning across much of Osceola County, with lows in the mid 30s Friday into Saturday. Daytime highs Thursday and Friday will struggle to reach 60.
While Saturday should be more temperate, a second cold front is expected to move through the area on Sunday and drop low temperatures back into the 30s Sunday night.
People can sign up for alerts on their phone by texting ‘COLDWEATHER’ to 888777.
