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Dallas prepares for protecting people ahead of latest cold snap

Austin Street Shelter anticipates opening alongside Fair Park as a temporary inclement weather shelter this weekend

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There is always a level of enthusiasm in volunteering the first night of a shelter opening up for extreme heat or cold temperatures.

Daniel Roby sees it.

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"Those volunteers usually come out running at first, you know, but then when you have a week, two weeks in, you know, it's difficult for people to sustain that volunteerism," Roby said.

Roby is the chief executive officer at Austin Street Shelter in downtown Dallas. He says with the latest forecast round of cold temperatures heading into North Texas, one thing is certain; unsheltered neighbors will come back.

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"I would be very surprised if we didn't quickly get back to the numbers that we had," Roby said.

The city of Dallas started its temporary inclement weather shelter on January 5 ahead of cold temperatures and stayed open through January 14.

We have one more evening before the latest round of bitterly cold temperatures roll into North Texas. David Goins shows us the preparations underway aimed at keeping people and pipes – protected.

During a winter weather event that brought a mix of snow, rain and sleet to Dallas on January 9 and 10, the city said it had over 1,200 people sheltering in three locations.

Roby says with more cold weather on the way, he's concerned about being able to keep up that momentum for volunteers working at the shelters.

"There is a very limited group of people that are working to be able to stand up these inclement weather shelters," Roby said. "So we have sustained efforts back to back, those staff certainly get very weary over the period of time that we're, we're operating."

Roby said they will need volunteers over the next several days and encouraged anyone who has considered helping out during an inclement weather shelter activation, to learn more about volunteering here.

For those looking for additional warming centers in their area, click here.

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