Safe Harbor in Easton has added cots to deal with the influx of those needing a warm place to stay, according to the organization's director.
Tyler Rogers has been making more frequent rounds than usual in Easton in hopes of convincing the homeless to come in from the cold.
The director of Safe Harbor said he’s lost more than eight of the men and women he’s served over the years to cold temperatures and the near-record low temperatures now sweeping through the Lehigh Valley have him worried there will be more this winter.
“People die in these temperatures — they really do,” Rogers said today. “I don’t want to have that happen again. It’s really, really scary.”
Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., the temperature reached -1 degree at Lehigh Valley International Airport with a windchill of -23 degrees an hour earlier, according to official reports. Emergency coordinators in Northampton and Lehigh counties reported no major issues as a result. Although a power outage in the Macungies forced open the Lehigh County Senior Center, 633 Elm St. in Allentown, as an emergency warming center, according to Scott Lindenmuth, emergency management coordinator for Lehigh County.
Safe Harbor has seen a jump in the number of people using the facility to stay the night, Rogers said. The shelter has added seven cots to the television room and has a large cafeteria open all night for anyone else who needs to come in from the cold. The shelter can normally house 22 men and 12 women, but has been making adjustments because of the weather.
Rogers said he expects a big turnout for tonight's weekly medical clinic at Safe Harbor, which runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In Bethlehem, the total numbers of those using New Bethany Ministries' services to stay warm have dropped significantly overall, although it has increased among those in more dire circumstances, according to Executive Director Diane Elliott.
Nearly anyone who has an able friend or family member has found a place to stay when they might otherwise not, Elliott said.
“If they don’t have to venture out, they won’t be venturing out,” Elliott said. “That’s how we know the people who are here are really in need of it.”
Elliott said the usual 165 or so people who turn out daily to the facility have dropped to about 50 to 60. Even those who might just come by for a full meal have stayed away during the bitter cold, she said.
A rotating schedule of Bethlehem-area churches has been taking in those who need a warm place to stay at night and Elliott said New Bethany Ministries has lengthened its hours to ensure the transition between the two destinations is as short as possible.
Usually, New Bethany is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but Elliott said the cold weather has altered hours to 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
“We want to make sure they don’t have to be outside for very long,” Elliott said of those who utilize the services. “The people coming out really have nowhere else to go.”
Elliott said the organization has seen a generous uptick in the number of donated coats and jackets, but said it still has a serious need for larger-sized coats, gloves, hats and scarves.
“Really anything that will help these folks stay warm is appreciated,” she said.
Dr. Perry Fooskas, medical director for the emergency department at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, said he's been a little surprised by the lack of patients coming in with cold-related injuries — though he's not complaining.
"Everybody is pretty much bundling up, which is good," said Fooskas.
Infants and elderly are the most susceptible to the chilling temperatures, Fooskas said, but even so the emergency room has not seen many of either type of patient. Fooskas said some patients that have come in for other ailments have shown signs of early-onset frostbite, but so far they've been reasonably lucky.
The media coverage of the arctic blast may have helped significantly prepare the public, he said.
"We are worried about it. Everybody is on the lookout for it," Fooskas said. "I don't think we caught too many people off guard."
Fooskas said hypothermia is a real danger for anyone staying outside for prolonged periods of time. The affliction can cause neurological damage even if it doesn't kill, Fooskas said.
"It certainly is a real concern," the doctor said. "Fingers crossed — we haven't seen anybody here with that. I do think a lot of people have been prepared this year."