On the streets, cold hits hard

Alex Yang was wearing three jackets. No scarf, no hat. It was freezing out on Tuesday, but Yang, who is homeless, said he had enough clothes to stay warm. What he wanted was a bath.

With temperatures predicted to fall into the teens overnight and government and nonprofit agencies opening extra shelter beds for the homeless, Yang said he planned to sleep on the street. He has never stayed at a shelter.

The 55-year-old has been homeless for eight years, ever since his camper burned down and a remodeling job ended. He saved his violin, a bamboo flute and a book of his photography.

"Mei you ban fa," he said in Chinese. There's nothing you can do about it.

About 8,000 people live on the streets, in emergency housing or in transitional housing in King County, according to the most recent one-night count. When temperatures plunge below freezing, the demand for a warm bed climbs.

The Rev. Rick Reynolds, who runs Operation Nightwatch, said his shelter referral service found beds for the 130 people who came in on Monday night seeking a place to sleep during this week's cold snap.

But "that doesn't mean there weren't people on the streets," Reynolds said.

On Tuesday, the city of Seattle set up extra shelter beds, as it did many nights this month because of the persistent rain: 75 in the City Hall basement, 80 at Seattle Center's Rainier Room and 25 at the Frye apartment building downtown.

The beds cost about $1,000 a night, in addition to the 1,319 shelter beds the city funded this year.

The Downtown Emergency Service Center, a nonprofit shelter, ran out of mats and beds Monday night, so people slept in chairs and on the floor in hallways and in a community room. The Compass Center put 25 people in its dining room.

A van equipped with studded tires went out from Seattle's Union Gospel Mission to distribute blankets, hats, gloves, hot chocolate and sandwiches to people who stayed outside during Monday's snowstorm.

In Snohomish County, most homeless shelters already were full before this week's cold weather. Several nonprofits that normally provide emergency motel vouchers already have tapped out their budgets.

About 160 men spent Monday night in the Everett Gospel Mission, said Sylvia Anderson, the mission's chief executive.

"The need in our community is far beyond capacity," said Bill Humphreys, vice president of operations for Volunteers of America in Everett.

Staff reporters Diane Brooks and Joe Mullin contributed to this report.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com