CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — City Council got a recap Tuesday from Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni on the city’s response to last week’s cold weather. Specifically, he spoke about efforts from the MLK Holiday on Monday, Jan. 15 to Wednesday of that week, when we saw hours and hours of below freezing temperatures.
“In all our city weather-related emergencies, the key is this: protecting people, pets and property,” Zanoni told council members. “That’s our goal. We don’t want to lose any life.”
As the cold settled on Corpus Christi, more than 2,600 people used the city’s libraries and senior centers to warm up, with an additional 178 people experiencing homelessness taken in by local shelters.
Meanwhile, the Housing and Community Development Department joined CCPD in doing welfare checks, offering gloves, hats and socks to many of the seniors who receive meals from the city.
Animal Care Services also worked around the clock during that period, bringing in over 100 pets who were either strays or not provided shelter, with 22 others being fostered by volunteers.
It is something for which Mayor Paulette Guajardo expressed her gratitude.
"To thank our residents who stepped forward to short-term foster," Guajardo said. "Because they took those dogs, we were able to bring in more and accommodate more.”
One thing the city tried for the first time was opening a cold-weather refuge at the Corpus Christi Gym by the Natatorium. With blankets and cots provided by the Red Cross, the center was staffed by city employees from various departments and helped 37 people who chose to stay overnight.
Zanoni said that because of the success of the refuge, they now plan to add it as a permanent resource to use anytime the weather gets rough.
One tweak was suggested by Councilman Jim Klein, however, who said he came to the downtown RTA transfer station and discovered that there was some confusion on how to get unhoused individuals to the center.
Although the RTA provided free rides, you had to catch multiple buses to get to the Corpus Christi Gym from there, something he said was not communicated as well as it could have been.
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