Frigid front endangers Portland homeless

Описание: (22 Dec 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Portland, Oregon - 22 December 2022
1. Various of homeless people and tents
2.Mid of Union Gospel Mission sign
3. Wide of people sleeping on street in cold outside mission
4. SOUNDBITE (English), Courtney Dodds, spokeswoman, Union Gospel Mission:
"Any extreme weather can be really difficult if you're having to live outside. Particularly with the cold, one of the things that can be dangerous is people can be laying on the sidewalk or sleeping outside and you don't always realize how dire of a situation you're in. It can be really easy for people to kind of doze off and fall asleep and unfortunately end up losing their lives because of the cold weather."
5. Various of homeless people outside
6.SOUNDBITE (English), Courtney Dodds, spokeswoman, Union Gospel Mission:
"Really our concern is for peoples' lives when they're living outside when there's extreme weather, I think most winters we unfortunately do lose some of our neighbors who are living outside when the weather gets really cold. It's a sad thing that happens every year."
7.Various of homeless people and encampments
8. SOUNDBITE (English), Steven Venus, slept outside:
"Yeah, I was out in the cold. I'm freezing my toes off."
9. Various exteriors of bike shop
10. Various of Taylor Bailey, of Cycle Portland, repairing a bike
11. SOUNDBITE (English), Taylor Bailey, Cycle Portland:
"It's cold, yeah. When I was biking home yesterday I saw someone on a doorstep in just sweatpants and I remember thinking, 'I hope they get inside,' because this is the kind of weather you would die in. It's absolutely freezing."
12. Various of tents on sidewalk
STORYLINE:
Extreme cold and strong winds have descended upon parts of the Pacific Northwest ahead of a winter storm that is expected to bring freezing rain, ice and snow to the region starting Thursday afternoon.
Authorities from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, have said one of their biggest concerns amid the cold front is ensuring that homeless people living on the streets have access to shelter.
In Portland, officials opened four emergency shelters after declaring a state of emergency because of severe cold. The shelters were at more than 90% capacity on Wednesday with 394 people spending the night, according to Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, spokesperson for Multnomah County, which is home to Portland.
In downtown Portland Thursday, Steven Venus tried to get on a light-rail train to find shelter after spending the night huddling on the sidewalk in temperatures that dipped to zero degrees with wind gusts of 40 mph. Venus had a sleeping bag wrapped around his head and was carrying an open umbrella he was using to carry his things so he could keep his hands covered.
"It's cold," he said, as he paused near a flimsy tent where another homeless person was taking shelter. "My toes were freezing off. They were frozen. The rest of me was fine. It was only my toes."
He was one of several dozen homeless people still out in the elements in an area of Portland known for a large concentration of tent encampments. One man was sprawled on the sidewalk with his legs exposed, barely covered by a jacket. Another man, who was wrapped in a makeshift covering of plastic sheeting and a tattered coat, got a handout from the Salvation Army as the wind blew his plastic covering away. Yet another man inched along in a wheelchair, clutching a guitar across his legs.
Courtney Dodds, a spokeswoman for the Union Gospel Mission, said teams from her organization had been going out to try to convince people to seek shelter
AP Video by Gillian Flaccus

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