As temperatures in the city plummet toward the 30s, homeless assistance groups say thousands of people living on the streets face serious risks.
"Every year there are people who freeze to death," said Martha Kegel, executive director of UNITY of Greater New Orleans. "Most of them are in very fragile medical conditions anyway, so they can't tolerate cold well, and then when it goes below freezing, we literally worry that they're gonna freeze to death."
For Kegel, the goal is to get out and urge the city's homeless to find a shelter, and get out of the cold.
But it's a major challenge, she said, as many people squat in abandoned buildings across the area.
"The magnitude of the problem in post-Katrina New Orleans is such that, we have no way to get to all of those people before tonight," Kegel said.
And with the city's freeze plan going into effect Friday and Saturday nights, officials at the New Orleans Mission are bracing for a huge demand.
"On an average night right now, we're taking in about 150, 160, but we're turning away about 15-20 every single night. But on a freeze night, we'll take in everybody," said Ron Gonzales, New Orleans Mission’s executive director.
Everyone who can fit safely inside, he said.
When the city enacts its freeze plan, shelters have the go ahead to accept more people than normal, but officials say they still don't have nearly enough space.
Homeless estimates doubled in the city after Hurricane Katrina, to more than 12,000, and Gonzales believes the problem is getting worse.
"It appears to be going up, and based on what we see, that sounds about right," he said.
Homeless assistance groups say -- especially since the storm -- the need far outweighs their resources.
"We went from about 28,000 supporters, donors, down to about 3,000 right now,” Gonzales said. “So, we're in desperate need of support. Our employees, we had 28. Today we have 8, and we're doing more than we did before the hurricane."
UNITY officials say there are roughly 600 shelter beds in the city.
The city's freeze plan goes into effect when the temperature or wind chill factor is expected to reach 38 degrees or lower.
