City opens warming centers, treats roads and urges residents to stay home Saturday night through Sunday morning.
SAN ANTONIO — City of San Antonio officials urged residents Saturday to prepare for freezing rain and icy conditions expected Saturday night into Sunday morning, outlining a multi-agency response aimed at keeping residents safe as a winter weather threat sweeps across Texas and into the Midwest and Southeast regions of the country.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said the city has already treated roads, activated city departments and coordinated with utilities and transportation agencies ahead of the storm.
“Some of the roads in our community have already been treated,” Jones said. “There’s already been precautionary steps taken by our utilities as well to ensure that we are ready.”
The mayor encouraged residents to monitor updates at SA.gov/coldweather, follow local news reports and use the city’s 311 system for assistance. She repeatedly emphasized that limiting travel will be critical as freezing rain develops.
“If you don’t need to travel over the next 48 hours, please minimize that,” Jones said. “Not only to be able to ensure that our first responders can respond to issues in the community, but there’s going to be work ongoing as roads are treated.”
City Manager Eric Walsh said San Antonio has opened six resilience centers where residents can warm up and seek shelter. The centers opened Friday morning and will remain open through noon Monday.
The resilience centers are located at Copernicus Community Center, South Side Lions Senior Center, Miller’s Pond Community Center, Normoyle Community Center, Gilbert Garza Community Center and Northeast Community Center.
“All of those resilience centers are available to the general public,” Walsh said. “Please utilize them if you feel like you’re in a position where you need that additional help.”
Transportation to the centers is available free of charge by calling 311. The city will coordinate rides through VIA Metropolitan Transit, Walsh said.
For people experiencing homelessness or those particularly vulnerable to cold temperatures, the city opened two warming centers at the City Base and Tobin Community Centers. The sites are operating through noon Tuesday with a combined capacity of just under 500 people.
Outreach teams began contacting individuals earlier this week and will continue through the weekend, Walsh said.
VIA president John Gary Herrera said the transit agency is offering fare-free bus service during the cold-weather period. Rides to warming and resilience centers coordinated through 311 will be provided via VIA TransLink at no cost.
Herrera also urged travelers to pay close attention to airline notifications, noting that several flights out of San Antonio have already been canceled.
“The airlines will ultimately make that call around cancellations,” he said. “If you are scheduled to have a flight, check with your airline.”
San Antonio Police and Fire departments are fully staffed, Walsh said, and coordinating with TxDOT to monitor overpasses and highways for ice.
CPS Energy president Rudy Garza acknowledged lingering community anxiety from the 2021 winter storm, but he said the utility is prepared.
“We’ve been working all week to make sure we understand what the forecast looks like,” Garza said, noting the most significant icing threat is expected between 6 p.m. Saturday and about 9 a.m. Sunday.
“Our power plants are running. There’s plenty of power in the market, so plenty of generation to keep the lights on,” he said. “If you have an outage, the likelihood is it will be a localized outage due to wind or something that caused it.”
Garza encouraged customers to report outages or gas-related concerns by calling CPS Energy’s 24-hour line at 210-353-2222, especially if they smell gas during periods of increased usage.
TxDOT officials said they began pre-treating roads Thursday and will continue through the weekend.
“More than 300 crew members in the San Antonio district are working around the clock,” TxDOT spokesman Charles Benavidez said.
TxDOT had nearly 800,000 gallons of brine on hand at the start of the event to prevent ice from bonding to road surfaces, Benavidez said. He urged drivers to stay off the roads if possible and check DriveTexas.org for real-time road conditions.
“Even a small amount of ice can make roads extremely hazardous,” he said.
San Antonio International Airport remains open, but airport officials warned travelers to expect delays.
“We put an emergency operation plan into effect,” San Antonio Airport director Jesus Saenz said. “We pre-treat all of our airfield and all of the roadways coming in and out of the airport complex.”
Saenz urged travelers to arrive earlier than usual — up to 2½ hours before domestic flights — and to monitor airline schedules closely.
San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto warned residents about heating safety, particularly during potential power outages.
“Do not use stoves, wood-burning heaters or generators inside,” Frausto said. “We’ve also had two fires related to space heaters.”
She advised residents to keep space heaters at least three feet away from any flammable material.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said officers are positioned to respond quickly to ice hazards but reiterated the city’s message to stay home if possible.
“We have every area that is liable to freeze over covered right now,” McManus said. “As soon as we understand those areas are going to freeze, we’re going to cut the traffic.”
Jones also confirmed that pets are allowed at both resilience and warming centers. Animal Care Services has additional dog houses available for residents in need, and officers will continue monitoring conditions for animals left outdoors.
“Once it gets to a certain temperature, make sure that our furry friends are inside,” Jones said.
Jones closed by urging residents to stay informed and look out for one another.
“311 is the resource,” she said. “Please stay safe and stay warm.”