Two people died in San Jose of suspected exposure, increasing the recent cold-weather-related death toll in the Bay Area to at least four amid plunging temperatures that have prompted a freeze warning for Wednesday morning.
The two latest victims were found in the 95112 zip code, which includes downtown San Jose, according to Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Jorden. She wouldn’t release additional information about where and when the victims were found, or under what circumstances, citing privacy concerns.
Earlier this month, two people were found dead in a parked car in South San Francisco. Police said it appears the two men — 40-year-old Esteban Torres Ortiz and 37-year-old Eleazar Altamirano Trujillo, both of South San Francisco — were burning charcoal or a similar substance in an attempt to stay warm, which filled the car with carbon monoxide, poisoning them.
Last month, 74-year-old Morris Jobe died of hypothermia and methamphetamine use after he was found unresponsive at a homeless encampment in Sacramento.
Low temperatures can be particularly dangerous to people living in encampments and vehicles, who have nowhere warm to go. Temperatures dropped into the mid-30s Monday night in San Jose, and the National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for the Bay Area from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to drop to the mid to upper 20s in the coldest inland areas.
The first two days of the month marked the coldest start to December since 1970, with an average temperature of 46 degrees across the Bay Area.
Two extra overnight shelters have opened in San Jose in an attempt to help bring people in out of the cold — there are 30 beds at the Roosevelt Community Center and another 20 at the West Valley Branch Library. Both shelters, which will be open through April, require a referral, and referrals at both sites have been maxed out over the past few nights, said city spokesman Jeff Scott. But not everyone with a referral shows up, which means a few beds are left empty each night.
Another 30-bed cold-weather shelter has opened at the United Methodist Church in Mountain View, and a 105-bed family shelter is set to open in Sunnyvale on Friday.
In response to the cold and rainy weather, Santa Clara County also activated a dozen libraries and community centers as daytime warming locations last week. Those centers will remain open until Sunday.
Shaunn Cartwright, with the Unhoused Response Group, has been passing out blankets, tents and tarps to help people living in encampments in San Jose stay warm and dry.
“Most people are just soaked, she said. “They’re standing there almost glow-in-the-dark pale and they’re shivering.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com