'Mom, you're not going to believe this!' Homeless in Seattle on a snow day
A man, who identified himself as "Alaska," spent the night on the street in Seattle as snow fell overnight into Monday.
He was unfazed though, saying he grew up in the last frontier, in Juneau. He chuckled at how Seattle responds to winter weather.
"Oh, it's ridiculous," he said. "The first time I was down here, they shut down the city with two inches on the ground. I called my mom: 'Mom, you're not going to believe this, they shut down the city after only 2 inches!'
"When I was a kid, going to school, you'd have to have three feet. And my parents would be like, 'Nope, we're driving to school.'"
Another man who identified himself as Anthony A. said he spent the night on a sidewalk in the University District.
"The City of Seattle is really good about giving out blankets and stuff, so that makes it a little easier," Anthony said. "I made sure to hand out hand warmers to other people out here, because it's easy to get sick in these conditions."
The city is opening extra emergency shelter beds for people who are homeless and living outside. That includes the Seattle Center Armory, open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
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Gil Aegerter
Gil edits feature pieces and helps guide staff reporters through their stories. He previously served as interim digital director and online managing editor at KUOW. Before that he spent seven years with NBCNews.com, where he was variously a senior editor, editor-producer and features editor. He also worked 25 years as a newspaper editor in Anchorage, Alaska, San Diego, Wilmington, N.C., and Seattle. He also was a freelance researcher for NBC Olympics for the Games in Atlanta; Sydney, Australia; Salt Lake City; Athens; and Torino, Italy. He is a graduate of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, with a degree in photojournalism.
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