translated from Spanish: U.S. cities seek to protect homeless people from the cold

BISMARCK, Dakota del Norte, USA (AP) – the coldest winter wave in years because it is not only painful, on Tuesday also became a risk to life, so that authorities in the region Center North you will take extraordinary measures to protect homeless and vulnerable people of the extreme climate of United States. Among the measures to be implemented, Chicago will convert some of their buses in shelters. Temperatures plunged to – 32 c (- 26 Fahrenheit) in North Dakota, with icy winds of up to – 52 Celsius (- 62 Fahrenheit) in Minnesota. Similar temperatures were recorded in Wisconsin and Illinois. The Governors of Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan declared emergencies to the threat of an even more intense cold Wednesday. The national weather service predicted temperatures of up to – 33 Celsius (- 28 Fahrenheit) for the Wednesday night in Chicago, with icy winds of up to – 46 Celsius (- 50 Fahrenheit). “The landscape of Detroit on Wednesday indicates minimum – 26 Celsius (- 15 Fahrenheit) with icy winds of up to – 40 Celsius (Fahrenheit).” It’s risks to public health and we need to treat them properly,”said the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. “They are conditions and temperatures that put at risk the life.”
Icy winds of – 32 Celsius (- 25 Fahrenheit) can freeze skin in 15 minutes, said the national meteorological service.

At least four deaths were related to low temperatures, including a man who died after being hit by a snowplow in the Chicago area, a young couple who traveled aboard a truck that collided with another vehicle on a road snowy in Northern Indiana and a man from Milwaukee who was found frozen in your garage. The authorities in some of the main cities in the region such as Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit tried desperately to keep the homeless away from the streets. The groups charity of Minneapolis operating places to warm up shelters extended their hours of operation and increased its capacity and ambulance staff said that all the weather reports will be considered to be of risk to life, according to Eric Waage, director of Hennepin County emergency management. The Metropolitan transit MetroTransit agency said that not he retire people from buses if they were aboard just to keep warm, provided they do not alter the order. Emanuel said that Chicago will enable five buses as centers of warming that will run through the city, some of them with nurses on board, to encourage the homeless to address vehicles and shelter from the cold.
“We will bring them warming shelters to them, so that they can stay near their things and kept hot”, said Cristina Villarreal, spokesman for the Department of family and support services of the city.

Shelters, churches and city of Detroit agencies collaborated to keep vulnerable people away from the cold, saying to those who refuse to accept help that “they will freeze or lose a limb,” said Terra DeFoe, Advisor to the Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan.Deointai Jordan, for 19 years, and dozens of others took refuge in the basement of a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“You come, take a NAP, eat a snack and use the bathrooms, even a swim”, commented. “And you eat well. Not to mention they give you clothes, shoes and socks”.

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Original source in Spanish