Plan to help homeless in San Jose during El Nino
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - With an El Nino winter on the way, there is concern that those living on the streets will be in grave danger in San Jose.
The housing department wants the city to declare a shelter crisis to get those people help.
There are three temporary cold weather shelters in Santa Clara County, which all together provide beds for about 250 people.
It's not enough because there's thousands spending the night on the streets.
The housing department is proposing that the city use two public libraries and two community centers as temporary warming centers.
Last week, a homeless man died of exposure after being out in the cold and advocates don't want that to happen again.
KTVU spoke to a woman Tuesday morning who told us she worries about getting into the temporary shelters because it's first come first serve, and once it gets colder, they may run out of space.
With an El Nino winter in the forecast, more rain is expected with possible flooding and homeless living near the creeks are at great risk.
The housing department is going to the city council Tuesday afternoon to ask the city council to approve the shelter crisis and funding to staff it.
In the plan, the libraries and community center wouldn't be used every night to house the homeless. It would only happen if there's severe weather.