Now that we are pretty sure the upcoming El Niño is "too big to fail," LA County officials are taking action.
Do you remember that $100 million plan to fight homelessness in LA? Well, here's how some of that money is actually supposed to be divvied up: $900,000 is being set aside specifically for helping the homeless get through the winter storms. The money will go toward extending hours at winter shelters, according to the LA Times. There's also supposed to be a vote next week that will approve an additional 261 emergency beds be added to the current stock of 600.
That $900,000 is being taken out of a $15 million chunk that was set aside for various programs—about $13 million is to go toward "rapid rehousing" programs, which basically means temporary rental subsidies and services to single adults and families, while the other $2 million is to serve as a preventative measure for families on the brink of homelessness. The money was not supposed to be divvied up until next year, but the supervisors decided to speed up the process and allocate the money because of the impending storms.
During a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, it was also noted that agencies are clearing flood control areas, ramping up on sandbag inventory at fire and sheriff's stations and, according to the LA Times, they will be mapping out where some of the homeless have been living in the riverbeds and other possible flood areas. The county also launched a new website on Tuesday for all things El Nino related—you might want to bookmark that one.
We don't like to mess around with Mother Nature. But while we wait for her to strike, and the earth remains parched, make sure to check out these activities while you can.