Even though a warning for up to 25 cm of snow has been issued for the Campbell River area, the extreme weather shelter has not been activated for the area.
“The trigger point for Extreme Weather Shelters from an emergency operations perspective is prolonged temperatures of -5 which is a temperature threshold that does not support life and safety,” said Campbell River and District Coaliton to End Homelessness Coordinator Stefanie Hendrickson. “The current forecast conditions do not meet that criteria to continue.”
Environment Canada listed Campbell River’s temperature at around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at -4 degrees, but that it would be sitting at around -1 through the night. Starting at 9 p.m. the snowfall will be “at times heavy,” according to Environment Canada. The snow is to change to rain on Thursday.
“The Coalition and their partners, including BC Housing and the City of Campbell River continue to work diligently to create a temporary shelter until the end of March, 2022,” Hendrickson said. “Anyone interested in supporting those efforts can contact the Coalition at info@crhousing.net. We are seeking to contract a van and driver for shuttle service and recruiting qualified staff.
“Until this shelter is available, BC Housing has increased financial support for their funded programs when agencies have additional beds and adequate staffing to increase capacity temporarily,” she said.
The CRDCEH, SRD and City of Campbell River activated the shelter between Dec. 24 and Jan 3.
Hendrickson said the community “is grateful to the Province for funding a cold weather response as part of the emergency management program through the Strathcona Regional District, and to the City of Campbell River for working with SRD and the Coalition to open a cold weather shelter.”
RELATED: Campbell River extreme weather shelter extended
SRD activates Emergency Operations Centre in anticipation of snow storm
marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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