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Seven new temporary homeless shelters are opening this week to offer refuge from El Niño-related rain storms.The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority opened four shelters on Monday and are opening three more today to temporarily house 1,131 people during the rain and cold temperatures, reports CBS LA. The temporary shelters are located in county-owned gyms and are spread out across the region, including Hawthorne, Sylmar, Hacienda Heights, Castaic and others. The additional beds will be added to the 2,000 beds already in place at winter shelters set up by L.A. County, all of which will be open 24 hours a day while the weather is cold.
"These venues are designed to be operational during the most severe El Niño rainy winter weather days," LAHSA officials tell L.A. Daily News. "The opening and closing of these shelters will align with improving and worsening weather conditions throughout the winter season."
The addresses of the shelters are not made public to discourage walk-ups, according to LAHSA. Instead, those seeking shelter can call 2-1-1 or visit the LAHSA website to find pre-existing pick-up sites where transportation is provided to and from shelters.
Housing Authority officials and the Sheriff's Department are taking additional steps to reach out to people residing in flood control channels and riverbeds that are particularly vulnerable to flooding, and encouraging them to take advantage of the shelters.
