CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As we prepare for frigid temperatures, Nueces County and the city of Robstown are opening an overnight warming center at the Richard M. Borchard Fairgrounds.
The center will be staffed around the clock and will open at 6 p.m. and remain open through 9 a.m. Sunday.
Family pets are allowed, but owners must provide food for them. The Corpus Christi Regional Transport Authority (CCRTA) is offering free rides to the warming center during available hours.
However, the Fairgrounds in Robstown isn't the only warming shelter in the Coastal Bend that residents can utilize.
Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid ordered the opening of the FEMA dome behind H.M. King High School in Kingsville. Doors are scheduled to open at 5 a.m. for anyone needing a place to stay during the cold weather.
Madrid spoke with 3NEWS about why it's important for the warming center to open as temperatures get dangerously low.
"You plan for the worst, but you hope for the best," Madrid said. "We always want to make sure that our citizens are well taken care of. Safety is our number one priority. There's a lot of folks out there, especially our underserved population, that don't, that may not have adequate heat in their homes. And then, of course, in the unlikely event that we have power outages, we want to make sure our folks have a nice, warm and safe place to be at."
Madrid is also reminding the public to prepare for the weather, sooner than later. He adds that people should not turn off their gas stoves to use them as heaters.
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