Jan 21, 2025
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – With the extremely low temperatures hitting the state, New Mexicans are bundling up and staying indoors. But for those who don't have a warm place to go, Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) is stepping up its efforts to offer shelter to the city's homeless population. ACS said the dangerous freeze has increased the number of people accepting their service. Story continues below Legislature: Push for education and housing bills expected this legislative session Weather: Coldest in years for some before slow warm-up New Mexico: CYFD settles lawsuit over failure to protect abused children Crime: One in custody after shooting at officers during traffic stop It's the coldest day Albuquerque has had in 14 years. "My fingers are frozen, I feel numb, I'm wearing about four layers of jackets on right now, so I believe it," said Adrian Urquiza, a painter at Alameda Open Space. And while there's no precipitation in the metro, those low temps are turning water into ice in places like fountains and the ponds at Tingley Beach. "These past two weeks I've been here it's been icing up, the pond on the north, the ones across the street have had ice I've never seen it," said Isaac Garent, a photographer at Tingley Beach. The cold has Albuquerque Community Safety ramping up its outreach. "Seeing people in frigid temperatures last night that dropped into single digits, seeing those individuals firsthand is something that really brings into light the importance of having a service like this," said Walter Adams, Deputy Director of ACS. He said the past few nights have been the busiest nights the department has experienced in its four years. In November, the agency relaunched an overnight shelter transportation service to get people into shelters during the extreme cold winter months. "If we look at it in a shorter period as temperatures drop since Friday, we started doing our proactive responses and in total from Friday night through last night we transported 137 people alone to shelters," said Adams. He adds in the last week the agency has been sending out its staff, proactively hitting the streets to offer that transportation service. ACS said Monday night they took 46 people to shelters which is more than double their nightly average. PNM and the water authority said the freeze has not caused any issues so far like power outages or water main breaks.
Respond, make new discussions, see other discussions and customize your news...

To add this website to your home screen:

1. Tap tutorialsPoint

2. Select 'Add to Home screen' or 'Install app'.

3. Follow the on-scrren instructions.

Feedback
FAQ
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service