Due to extremely cold temperatures on Tuesday, the Richland County chapter of the American Red Cross has opened a warming center in their office at 39 N Park Street. This is the second warming station the Red Cross has opened this winter, the first one during the first week of January and the “polar vortex.”
The National Weather Service issued a wind chill warning for Richland County until noon on Wednesday, Jan. 29. According to the warning, a wind chill warning is issued when a strong wind will combine with cold temperatures to create dangerously cold conditions for exposed skin. The wind will make it feel like 25 degrees below zero or colder for at least several hours.
“At this present moment, because the wind chill factor is so bad, being outside any length of time can cause frostbite,” said Tina Buckingham, Executive Director at the Richland County Red Cross. “It’s really detrimental, and at that point our mission is to relieve human suffering so that is when the Red Cross comes in, when it’s a weather condition.”
To Buckingham’s knowledge, this is also only the second time the Red Cross has opened a warming station in at least a year and a half, as cold weather events are few and far between.
“We have not had this in quite some time, this is an unusual event that’s happening,” she said.
Tuesday morning the Red Cross was also on standby due to power outages in both Lexington and Mansfield and communicating with Richland County interim EMA Mike Bailey.
“If the power is not restored within a certain amount of time the homes will lose their heat, so we will open up a shelter for those who are affected in that area,” said Buckingham. “The Red Cross is always on standby for any disaster that is going to happen.”
Buckingham added that the Red Cross has been on daily conference calls with Red Cross centers all across northeast Ohio as well at the state EMA to stay updated on weather conditions and what to expect.
“We are gearing up and being prepared for any disaster that happens,” she said.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the Red Cross office on Park Avenue is open with access to the warming station, a space in the office with snacks, hot drinks and water for anyone who wants to come in out of the cold. The Red Cross also provides movies, cards and games to pass the time.
“A lot of times we have some of the elderly who have come in who keep their houses a little colder, they’ll come up here as a group and I have some movies we put in for them to watch and have fellowship, be in the center and keep them warm,” said Buckingham. “We also have families with space heaters who come in because they didn’t want to have the kids in the house with the space heaters going on, so they come down while the house is heating up.”
Besides alerting local media sources to the availability of the warming stations, Buckingham said the Red Cross is also in contact with First Call 211 and other surrounding non-profit and social service agencies to alert their clients of the warming center. While the Red Cross currently does not provide overnight shelter, Buckingham the center does assist Grace Episcopal Church at 41 Bowman Street with providing cots and other supplies for people seeking overnight shelter.
Buckingham emphasized that anyone is welcome to come to the warming station.
“It is open to everyone, not just for somebody who doesn’t have a place to live, it’s for anybody who is in a circumstance where their house is cold,” she said.
“It is open to everyone, not just for somebody who doesn’t have a place to live, it’s for anybody who is in a circumstance where their house is cold,” said Tina Buckingham.
