TYLER, Texas — As temperatures plunge in East Texas, frostbite is a growing concern for anyone spending time outdoors. The homeless population is especially vulnerable.
The high temperature in Tyler today is 36 degrees and it’s going to get colder. Here are the wind chill temperatures you can expect after the weekend:
Sarah Bulloch is a volunteer. She's not associated with a specific organization; she just enjoys being of service. With help from nearby organizations, she has been sweeping the streets and even the woods to make sure no one’s left out in the cold.
"We started checking the tent camps, and just going along the streets and finding the homeless," Bulloch said. "We found out which people were at the Salvation Army and which people were not going to the Salvation Army.”
There are certain restrictions that prevent everyone from being able to go to the Salvation Army. One of those is that they need to have an ID.
“We've talked to a couple of motels are really great, because a lot of these people don't have IDs," Bulloch said. "And so these hotels were gracious enough to let these people come without IDs.”
HandUp is transporting people who will be staying in nearby hotels for the next week where they'll have meals brought to them every day, free of charge.
Bulloch has already seen several people suffering from frostbite and has doctors on-call to meet guests at their hotels to tend to their wounds.
“We heard that there are some patients, or some potential patients who may be stranded due to inclement weather and some might have some health concerns from exposure to the cold so they need a wellness check and we just came to be available if needed,” Dr. Pippin with UT- Health Science Center said.
Sarah Bulloch's team is doing everything they can, but she wants everyone watching this to pull together.
"People just need to be on the lookout for anybody that they even suspect is cold," she said. "This is an unusual extreme emergency situation. And it's really hard to believe anybody could survive this."
These are our neighbors out in the cold, and our neighbors need our help. This is also going to be a week-long process. If you would like to volunteer your time or donate, you can reach out to Bulloch and her team at tylerwarmhearts@gmail.com.