Post updated at 9:08 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 5:
First United Methodist Church in downtown Lawrence opened its doors for overnight emergency shelter, and the University Community of Christ will open at 10 a.m. Sunday as a day shelter.
As of 6 p.m. Saturday, FUMC, at 946 Vermont St., has opened its doors, according to the Homeless Resource Center.
“Cots, storage, hot chocolate, and a meal will be provided to ensure everyone stays safe and warm,” according to a social media post from the HRC Saturday evening.
Those seeking overnight shelter should generally start at the Lawrence Community Shelter, then proceed to one of the overflow shelters, which will open as needed.
Starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, folks staying at FUMC will be transported to UCC, at 1900 University Drive, as a day shelter, according to Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the city’s homeless solutions division. FUMC will close at 10 a.m., and the Homeless Response Team will transport guests from there to UCC.
The city had planned to open its recreational facilities as warming centers during the day but announced Saturday evening that all city facilities would be closed Sunday and Monday. The library is also closed Sunday.
“If any of our unhoused neighbors want to come in but are struggling with transportation, please call me at 785-760-1481,” Bosch-Hastings said via email Sunday morning.
Read more about how to seek shelter and how to volunteer to help at this link.
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Severe weather resources
Get warm in Lawrence:
• See this page for locations to get warm during the day and overnight, where to get help for pets and more.
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and where snowplows have been. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call Evergy’s emergency line, 800-383-1183, if above-ground lines are arcing or making contact with trees or vegetation. Call 911 immediately if overhead power lines are on the ground or a fire starts.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
