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Due to frigid temperatures expected this weekend and early next week, the City of Austin is opening cold weather shelters beginning Saturday evening. Shelters will remain open through at least Tuesday morning. Registration for shelter will occur between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. each evening, beginning Saturday, at One Texas Center (OTC), 505 Barton Springs Road, which will act as the central embarkation point for individuals seeking an overnight shelter. The City will share its plans with community partners who work directly with Austin’s unsheltered population and will text information directly to unsheltered individuals registered with the City’s recently launched text alert system. The Homeless Strategy Office (HSO) determines when to activate cold weather shelters no later than 9 a.m. each day using National Weather Service (NWS) projections for the Camp Mabry Location. These projections may be accessed via the NWS website and by entering the 78703 zip: 7-Day Forecast 30.27N 97.74W (weather.gov). HSO activates cold weather shelters if the forecast is predicted to be 32 degrees or colder overnight, 35 degrees or colder overnight with precipitation, or 35 degrees or colder overnight with a wind chill of 32 or colder. Due to the expected winter event with prolonged extreme temperatures, City leaders decided to proactively communicate the shelters will remain open Saturday evening through Tuesday morning.
How to Access a Cold Weather Shelter Registration for shelter will occur between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. at One Texas Center (OTC), 505 Barton Springs Road. Bus routes to OTC are lines: 1, 7, 10, 20, 30, 105, 142, 801. Anyone seeking a cold weather shelter and does not have the means to pay the fare will still be given a ride. CapMetro partners with the City to transport individuals from OTC to a shelter location. While Cold Weather Shelters are primarily accessed by people experiencing homelessness, they are available to anyone needing a warm place to spend the night. Individuals can get information about access and activation by calling the Cold Weather Shelter Hotline - 512-972-5055. Guidance for Cold Weather Shelter guests is available here. Since shelters are largely used by individuals experiencing homelessness, the City does not list the locations for a variety of reasons, including managing capacity limits and privacy concerns. However, the City is publicizing the location of the embarkation point, which is the OTC at 505 Barton Springs Road. Please follow austintexas.gov/alerts |
