UPDATE: (2/16/21 11:30 A.M.) – Lexington has extended the extreme weather plan for homeless providers.
According to Lexington’s Division of Emergency Management, the plan has now been extended until Saturday morning, Feb 20.
UPDATE: (2/8/21 6:05 P.M.) – The extreme weather plan for homeless providers in Lexington has again been extended.
Frozen water lines typically occur in areas such as crawl spaces or along the outside walls where unprotected plumbing tends to be more vulnerable to the elements, according to emergency officials. Following these tips now can help avoid headaches later:
- Make sure you have disconnected garden hoses from your home. If you have an irrigation system or sprinklers, make sure it is turned off and drained.
- Search your house for un-insulated water pipes, especially in unheated areas. Check attics, crawl spaces, and outside walls. Consider wrapping pipes with insulation sleeves. Another option is electric heating tape but follow manufacturers’ instructions carefully to avoid a fire hazard.
- Seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations with caulking to keep cold air away from pipes.
HOW TO PREVENT FROZEN PIPES
- Drain and shut off entirely the water to any unoccupied residence such as a summer or vacation home. A loss of power during a winter storm could cause pipes to freeze.
- Set the thermostat no lower than 55 degrees if you’re going out of town. Although you may be able to get away with a lower temperature, this setting is safe for pipes.
- When below-freezing temperatures occur, keep a slow trickle of water flowing through faucets supplied by pipes that run through unheated or unprotected spaces. This will help prevent the water in them from freezing. Also, keep kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors open to allow warm air to circulate around pipes.
- Make sure you know where your main water shut-off valve is located inside your home so that you can shut off your water quickly in the event of a water pipe leak. This valve is often located in a utility room or closet or in the basement.
Visit Kentucky American Water’s website HERE, for more tips on water-related matters.
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- Dial 859-533-9199 if you know or see someone that appears to need emergency shelter.
- If it is after 10 P.M., call 859-494-0470 (10-8 A.M.)
According to DEM, the Hope Center Warming shelter, for men 18 years and older, is open. All those who can go to this shelter wil be required to. Those eligible for this shelter, will not be provided a motel room.
The Salvation Army for Women and Women with Children is also open. DEM officials say all those who can go to this shelter will be required to and will not be provided a motel room.
Any hospital or Eastern State Discharge will be required to receive verbal approval prior to discharging patients to congregate shelters.
According to DEM, the high demand of motel rooms over the last two months, has the program close to capacity and households will have to be prioritized. Prioritization will be:
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- Households that are unsheltered and cannot split up into other shelters or find other supports to pay for a motel/hotel room. This is at the professional discretion of Community Action Council.
Those permanently banned from the Hope Center or Salvation Army must be verified via Hope or TSA staff. This does not mean those restricted. Those restricted will be allowed to come into shelters as long as the community is under the emergency winter weather plan. Those restricted, but allowed to enter Hope or TSA under the emergency winter weather plan will not be provided a motel room.
The community emergency winter weather plan includes enough shelter capacity for those that are willing to accept shelter. With the current available shelter beds, we will be requiring all those that can go to congregate shelters, go. Community Action Council has a very limited amount of emergency overflow rooms available for those households as prioritized above. If there is a couple, they will be asked to split up into the Hope Center and the Salvation Army during these colds nights.
Anyone can sign up for activation alerts via their cell phone by texting ‘LEXSHELTER’ to 888777.