Updated Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m.
Very cold temperatures and the potential for wintry precipitation arrive on Friday, and the City of Fort Worth is reminding the community about resources to support and protect vulnerable populations.
The City of Fort Worth works collaboratively with multiple City departments, regular emergency shelter operators, public safety and emergency management, overflow shelter operator When We Love, and Trinity Metro to implement a plan that ensures shelter demand will not exceed capacity during a cold weather activation.
Support for individuals experiencing homelessness
Regular emergency shelters are prepared to serve those in need on cold nights.
For individuals:
- Presbyterian Night Shelter: 2400 Cypress St.
- Union Gospel Mission: 1321 E. Lancaster Ave.
For families:
- The Salvation Army: 1855 E. Lancaster Ave. (Eligible households must include at least one parent and one child.)
Emergency overnight overflow shelter: When weather triggers are met, additional emergency shelter locations will be activated with overflow beds. If beds at Presbyterian Night Shelter or Union Gospel Mission are full, individuals will be relocated to available overflow locations. This plan ensures demand does not exceed capacity.
Daytime resource: True Worth Place, located at 1513 E. Presidio St., serves as the primary daytime resource for adults experiencing homelessness. It operates daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional information on local homeless resources is available on the Homeless Strategies webpage.
Closures
Municipal Court
- The Fort Worth Municipal Court's Court in the Community-Warrant Forgiveness event scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 24, at Kay Granger Elementary School will be rescheduled to a future date.
- On Friday, Jan. 23, no changes in service hours are expected at the A.D Marshal Public Courts Building. On Monday, Jan. 26, all in-person scheduled dockets have been canceled. The A.D Marshal Public Courts Building will open at 10 a.m.
Public Events
Events at the Fort Worth Convention Center (FWCC) and Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) will continue as planned:
- FWCC: NCA Varsity High School Nationals - 700 cheerleading teams.
- WRMC: Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo - all shows inside will continue. Midway may adjust hours or close.
Solid Waste residential collections
Check back for updates.
Preparing Fort Worth roadways for winter weather
The Street Operations team, a part of the Transportation & Public Works Department, is responsible for coordinating winter response for approximately 8,600 lane miles of city roadways and more than 240 bridges.
Assets are categorized into three priority levels:
- Priority 1: Bridges and hospital entrances
- Priority 2: Critical hills
- Priority 3: Intersections and arterials
The City will first provide service to priority 1 locations on the designated routes before adding service to priority 2 or 3 locations.
When the ground is cold enough for precipitation to stick, and the forecast calls for ice, snow, sleet or freezing rain, sanding crews are placed on standby. The bridges included as critical are due to different aspects like traffic volume, access to interstates, a history of icing and a history of vehicular incidents.
A sand-salt mixture (10% salt) is applied on top of icy pavement. It cannot be applied before the precipitation falls.
For wide-scale treatment of ice, the City provides sanding for traction control. The City has many sanding resources and will continue to sand throughout the event while ice is present. Unlike northern cities, Fort Worth only averages about nine days of winter precipitation each year with an average snow/sleet accumulation of less than one inch.
Additionally, in our region, low-snow events tend to result in ice, so treatment methods are focused on ice control rather than snow removal.
Crews have already put down brine in key areas and will be starting 24-hour operations by Friday morning.
The City doesn’t maintain a fleet of snow plows. As staff continue to monitor future weather trends, additional resources may be obtained and the plan will then be revised.
The Joint Emergency Operations Center will begin activation on Friday.
Each event is unique, but through effective communication and collaboration the City can stay flexible to meet evolving needs during winter emergency response.
Protect water pipes and property
Weather forecasts indicate the possibility of over 60 consecutive hours of subfreezing temperatures occurring in the next few days.
That means it’s a good idea to take steps now to keep water pipes at homes and businesses from freezing and possibly bursting.
First: Find and learn how to shut off the water to your location at the private shut-off valve. Check this valve now to make sure it is working.
Make sure everyone in the household knows where this valve is in case a pipe breaks and you need to turn the water off in a hurry.
Fort Worth Water realizes you can’t always wait for a crew to show up in an emergency and will allow you to shut off the water at the meter. Be careful when removing and replacing the lid so you do not damage the wires attached to the radio transmitter.
Second: Here are some prevention tips:
What to do if you have no water: If it’s from a frozen pipe, it is safest to call a plumber to handle the problem. The pipe may be cracked and will burst when thawed. Don’t use an electrical appliance to heat the pipe. This could cause the pipe to burst, creating the risk of electrocution.
What to do in case of a water main break: Report the location of the running water or buckled pavement immediately by calling 817-392-4477 or by using the MyFW app.
- Make sure all outside pipes are insulated. Disconnect hoses from the faucet and cover the faucet and any external pipes.
- Check to see that pipes in unheated parts of your home or business (including crawl and attic spaces, under cabinets) are insulated.
- Open cabinet doors that contain water pipes to allow heat to enter the areas. This may not be an option if you have children or pets and store hazardous materials in these cabinets.
- Turn off or unplug your irrigation system during the winter to prevent ice on sidewalks or streets. Drain the lines to prevent them from freezing and bursting.
- Commercial buildings with fire sprinklers should leave the heat on overnight and on weekends when subfreezing temperatures are forecast.
- Keep extra water on hand during freezing weather in case a main break or frozen pipe cuts off your water supply.