Concern for Victoria's homeless as island braces for cold snap

Vancouver Islanders prepared Thursday for the coldest night in more than a year, with the mercury expected to plunge to -10 C overnight, and feel like -20 C with the wind chill, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“It’s going to feel like a thermal shock, particularly for those that are unhoused,” said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist with the weather agency, on Thursday.

The frigid temperatures will be dangerous for those sleeping outside, said Amber Olmstead of Our Place Society, which provides mats and beds for those seeking shelter from the cold.

“Who’s going to check on these people in the tents to make sure they’re not freezing to death in the parks? We don’t have the capacity to do that,” said Olmstead.

The City of Victoria had not opened a warming centre by Thursday evening, because the criteria for doing so had not been met. That criteria includes all of the shelters across the city being at full capacity.

While Our Place Society was at full capacity on Wednesday, staff at the Salvation Army, where extra mats have been brought out, said 24 of their 30 extra mats had been spoken for—meaning there were six that had not been used, and the threshold for getting the city to open a warming station had not been reached.

It was a cold reality for Troy, who shivered through the night Wednesday, sleeping on the street, and didn’t have a place to sleep indoors on Thursday night.

“I mean I just chilled all night. There’s no restaurants open 24 hours that you can go into,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I don’t know where I’m going to go, I’m going to freeze my ass off, I guess.”

The arctic blast is expected to last for a few days, and it was expected that a warming centre in Victoria could be opened as early as Thursday night or Friday—when the high will be -7 C—and all of the city’s shelter mats may get snapped up.

The extreme weather also prompted warnings for other vulnerable groups, including the elderly and the very young, and health officials cautioned people to bundle up.

“The main thing we’re concerned about is someone getting frostbite, and the way to prevent that when you’re outside, it’s best to cover up almost all areas of your skin,” said Island Health’s Dr. Michael Benusic.

Experts also say you should keep your pets indoors on Friday as much as possible.

“It’s not normal for the animals here, so they’re not used to it, said Penny Stone with the Victoria Humane Society.

Fortunately, the cold snap is not predicted to last long and by the end next week, temperatures are expected to be unseasonably warm again.