Homeless, Growers Battle Wintry Blasts From Gulf of Alaska

With nighttime temperatures expected to dip well below freezing, Orange County growers were scrambling anxiously Wednesday to keep their multimillion-dollar crops warm.

“The orange grove people are going to have to be working overtime,” said Mike Smith of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, referring to citrus and other agricultural growers who were girding against temperatures expected to drop into the 20s.

Meanwhile, amid reports of one possible death due to exposure in Orange County, local charitable organizations Wednesday were asking for donations to counter a shortage of blankets and warm clothing for the homeless, as people streamed to local shelters for protection against the cold.

Normally balmy Southern California has been locked in a chilly embrace of winds from Alaska the past few days, according to meteorologists. But forecasters predict that the worse will be over today: Warming temperatures are expected at least until Saturday.

“What we’ve had is a storm track that stems from a low-pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska,” said WeatherData’s Smith. “This type of weather system brings cold air with it. It’s not a continental air mass, where the winds come into your county from out in the desert. This cold air is coming from the Gulf of Alaska. . . . “

John Ellis, deputy agricultural commissioner for Orange County, said he knew of no crop catastrophes as of Wednesday. “Right now we don’t have any damage reported to us due to the cold itself,” he said. “So far the growers are not fearing damage.”

But Alan Reynolds, orchard manager for Treasure Farms, said the current cold snap has forced the Irvine-based agricultural firm to take several measures to save delicate crops.

“We’ve been using overhead sprinklers and wind machines as ongoing frost-protection measures,” said “We use the wind machines among the citrus and avocado trees. The machines mix the warmer air, which is usually higher up, with the colder air, which is lower down. This tends to raise the temperature slightly and protect the trees.”

Crew Working Overnight

Reynolds and other Treasure Farms workers planned to work into the early morning hours today, monitoring thermometers and turning on wind machines and sprinklers as needed.

“We’ll have three people running around, checking temperatures, turning on machines,” said Reynolds, adding that so far, the 6,200-acre farm has escaped serious crop damage. “We’ll be monitoring them all night.”

The unusually cold weather has led to shortages of blankets and warm clothing at agencies that support the needy and homeless in Orange County.

“Having enough blankets is always a concern,” said Dee Warbington, who coordinates the outreach program at Catholic Charities in Santa Ana. “The demand for these items in the last few weeks has been . . . great. I think we gave out the last blankets and the few sleeping bags we had the Friday before Christmas.

“For many out on the street, it is hard to keep or carry possessions so they will limit themselves to the bare necessities. Many of them will not have blankets of their own,” Warbington said.

Jean Forbath, director of the Costa Mesa organization Share Our Selves, which provides food, clothing and other assistance to the needy, said her group has had to restrict distribution of blankets to the homeless because there are too few of them to provide to poor families who may also need them.

“We have families where six or seven might occupy a garage or one room, but they only have one blanket between them,” she said. If we had more we could give them to these families, but there just aren’t enough. We gave away our last eight blankets this morning. And if someone has a sleeping bag, it’s worth gold.”

Armories Open

The county’s estimated 4,000 homeless residents made frantic efforts again Wednesday night to find warm shelter. National Guard armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton were open again Wednesday night, in keeping with county policy of opening them whenever the temperature is below 40 degrees during dry days, or 50 degrees when it is raining.

John Laroche, a volunteer at the Santa Ana armory Wednesday, said there was an adequate supply of blankets on hand, but only because guests are not allowed to remove them.

However, Laroche said, there was an immediate need for warm clothing.

“I brought in three trash bags full of clothes from my house, things like old ski gloves, sweat pants and heavy jackets, and they were quickly taken,” he said.

The county’s decision about whether to keep the armories open is made on a daily basis, except on weekends. Last weekend, a long one because of the Christmas holiday, the decision was made not to keep the armories open. That decision, based on forecasts of warmer weather, proved to be a mistake, county officials said, because the weather on Monday was well below 40 degrees and many homeless had no place to go.

Robert A. Griffith, chief deputy director of county Social Services Agency, said: “It’s a little bit of a gamble. Generally speaking, we’ll try to err on the side of having them open rather than closed. We had to make the decision (last) Friday and we were wrong. It turned cold and we should have been open.”

Last year, the county made decisions throughout the weekend about when the shelters would be opened. But Scott Mather, chairman of the county’s task force on the homeless, said his organization suggested that the decision be made on Fridays so the proper groups and volunteers could be mobilized.

‘Learning as We Go’

Mather said there were some chaotic nights last year when his forces scrambled to prepare housing for hundreds of people with only a few hours’ notice. He acknowledged, however, that the new decision-making procedure is responsible for mistakes such as the one made last weekend when county officials decided on Friday to close the armories on Monday, only to find that it was the coldest day of the year.

“We’re sort of learning as we go,” Mather said. “I knew on Sunday night that we were wrong (in our forecast), but it was just too late. There was no way I could get . . . all of the logistics done in trying to get everybody together.”

Mather said, however, that county officials are being diligent in the project. “My sense with them is that they are making their decisions based on compassion, not just the objective facts. So when it’s close, they’ll stay open.”

Mather said he would suggest that the county develop a contingency plan for weekends in which there is an unexpected change in the weather. He suggested that a food organization might stockpile enough food for one night and that a standby transportation system could be prepared.

Griffith said the county has to provide four special sheriff’s officers at each of the two armories every night they are open. In addition, the county has to mobilize one organization that provides and serves meals; another that operates transportation services; the Red Cross, which supplies the bedding, and the volunteer groups that help in the operations.

The county has about $88,000 in federal money and private contributions to operate the shelters this year, enough to open on about 60 nights, Griffith said. Unless there is an unusually cold winter, he said, the funding should be adequate and finances should not play a role in deciding whether to open the facilities.

Basically, he and Mather said the decision on whether to open the armories should be automatic if the forecast meets the temperature criteria.

Wednesday’s Low Was 30

Those wishing to make donations of blankets, clothing or food may contact Catholic Charities at (714) 543-3924. Share Our Selves is at the Rea Community Center, 661 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa.

Low temperatures early Wednesday ranged from 40 in Newport Beach to 30 in San Juan Capistrano. The low Wednesday in Irvine was 31 while El Toro had 35 and Santa Ana 38.

As outdoor temperatures have fallen, Orange County homes and businesses have been turning up the thermostats. “Since the cold weather began last Friday, gas consumption in Orange County has gone up about 9% above normal use,” said Bob Perry, a Fullerton-based district manager for Southern California Gas Co.

Perry said the gas company had several money-saving recommendations to homeowners during the cold snap:

- Keep the thermostat at 68 degrees during the day and considerably lower at night.

- Open window drapes during the day, to get the sun’s heat, and close them at night to keep in the house’s warmth.

- If the house has a fireplace, make sure its damper is closed when not in use.

- Check furnace filters frequently and if the filter is dirty, replace it.

Times staff writer Dave Lesher contributed this story.

Related story, Part I, Page 1. BRRRRRR A look back at winter temperatures for Santa Ana, the only Orange County city for which WeatherData Inc. has historical records. Wednesday’s low in the county was 30 degrees in San Juan Capistrano. Coldest day ever: 22 on Jan. 6, 1950. Coldest December day: 25 on Dec. 12, 1949. Coldest Dec. 28: 30 in 1949. Low on Dec. 28, 1987: 35 Low on Dec. 28, 1988: 30 Source: WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.