Escaping cold is life or death for some in Wisconsin
(Published Tuesday, February 6, 2007 10:20:03 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Associated Press
Bitter cold that can be an inconvenience to some is a life-or-death matter for others in Wisconsin these days.
Among those trying to keep Milwaukee's homeless people safe is Repairers of the Breach, a daytime homeless shelter and service center that expanded its hours to stay open 24 hours a day since Friday as temperatures plunged below zero.
"Once this cold spell hit we were just so aware that there are so many people outside or in unheated places," said MacCanon Brown, executive director. "We know that there would be a lot of deaths and terrible frostbite and hypothermia if we weren't open."
As a daytime facility, the shelter doesn't have beds but provides blankets, pillows and meals for people with nowhere else to go. They can rest in chairs or on the floor. Fifty-one people stayed Sunday night.
"The overnight shelters are full to capacity, all of them," Brown said.
Without her center, "most of them would be living in bushes, unheated garages, abandoned buildings," she said. "They do come in our door. They feel very welcomed."
Most of Wisconsin stayed near the zero mark or below all day Monday, and nighttime temperatures quickly veered downward.
Highs Tuesday were expected to reach the single digits above zero, but subzero cold was expected Tuesday night before a slight warmup begins Wednesday.
Dozens of schools closed Monday and were calling off classes Tuesday as well, including Milwaukee Public Schools with 90,000 students.
Joe Sheehan, superintendent of Sheboygan Area Schools which also called off classes, said the last time the city's schools closed due to extreme cold was in 1990. This is the first time since 1983 that Sheboygan classes have been canceled for two days in a row due to weather, he said.
In Wausau, truck driver Dino Jaglin made a delivery in 10-below cold and took the frigid weather matter-of-factly.
"I just dress for it basically, just layers and keep a minimal amount of skin exposed," he said, standing behind is Roadway Express truck. "When it gets this cold, things break. You just have to be more careful."
Jaglin, 56, called himself a veteran of harsh winters.
"This weather isn't that cold compared to what I was growing up with as a teenager in Wisconsin," he said. "It seemed like we were below zero for weeks on end."
Repair businesses kept busy in the cold.
Jack Henricks Sr. at Rick's Hodag towing in Rhinelander said 11 trucks went out Monday morning. "We've had a lot of calls to jump start cars and to assist semis with fuel jelling up."
Granite Peak Ski Area near Wausau closed five hours earlier than normal Monday, spokeswoman Vicki Baumann said. "We don't want to take a chance of our lifts acting up in the extreme cold," she said.
Only 30 skiers - "some die-hards" - took to the slopes anyway Monday before they shut down at 4 p.m., she said.
"It is unbelievable. If we don't have 40 above and rain, we have 40 below," Baumann said, referring to early January's spring-like conditions.
