The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center has been activated in response to winter weather impacting the Central Texas region.
With city facilities closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and temperatures not expected to climb above 40 degrees, the city shifted to 24-hour operations of cold weather shelters on Monday. Individuals who stayed in a shelter Sunday night will be allowed to stay all day Monday and check out Tuesday. If they need or want to leave on Monday, they will need to go through the registration process again for Monday night at One Texas Center.
Also, because many Austinites may still need a warm place to seek reprieve from the cold during the day Monday, Austin Public Library is opening three branches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those branches are:
- Terrazas Branch – 1105 E. Cesar Chavez St.
- Ruiz Branch – 1600 Grove Blvd.
- Little Walnut Branch – 835 W. Rundberg Ln.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Central Library, located downtown at 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. will open and hour early at 8 a.m. All other APL branches will be available as warming centers during regular business hours.
The EOC will remain operational until further notice. In addition to the Alerts page listed above, updates will be posted on @AustinHSEM social media accounts on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram, and shared to official City of Austin social media accounts. Community members are encouraged to follow their preferred local news media for up-to-date information. HSEM will contact reporters to ensure they have up-to-date information for the public.
A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect from the National Weather Service until noon Wednesday, Jan. 22, and a Winter Storm Warning will go into effect at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 through Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.
