Awash in Misery : Homeless: Recent deluge creates extra hardships for those living on the streets. Some crowd into shelters, but others try to tough it out.

The previous night hadn’t been a bad one, said a homeless man named Allen as he sat in a community drop-in center, his clothes sopping wet. By chance, he had found an unoccupied warehouse entryway, where he snuggled up in sheets of plastic and managed to keep somewhat dry as he slept. This night, however, Allen was hoping to could find room in a Santa Monica shelter, or at least at a cold weather armory nearby.

“Most people that I’m around are making makeshift tents, but they’re not working real well,” said Allen, 34, who has been homeless for nine months. “This (rain) just makes it almost unbearable.”

As the rest of the city was struggling to get to work on time, drain basements or, in the worst cases, dig homes out of mud avalanches, the homeless were concerned with simply staying dry and healthy. Huddled in doorways, encased in layers of plastic garbage bags or camped under parking structures--anything with a roof--they were a reminder that when it comes to natural disasters those who have the least often suffer the most.

“People who don’t make it to the armories are completely soaked,” said Jeanette Rowe, a homeless coordinator at St. Josephs Center in Venice. “They’re sleeping outside in the rain.”

Willie Pace, who runs the shelter program at the Bible Tabernacle Church in Venice, agreed: “Most of the people who are coming in are exhausted.”

Rowe says that, as of Wednesday, the rains had caused the homeless population at St. Josephs to swell to 150% of the number a week earlier. Many of those who sought shelter were suffering from colds, the flu or strep throat, with a few in the early stages of pneumonia.

The center had dispensed more than 300 pairs of shoes as of Wednesday. In some cases, people came in when the center opened to receive shoes, ran errands, then returned in the afternoon to trade in their water-soaked pairs for new ones.

“We’re dealing out clothes all day,” Rowe said.

Likewise, at the City-County Cold Weather Project armories in Culver City and West Los Angeles, occupancy by early last week had swelled. Equipped with 150 beds apiece, the armories used extra pallets to accommodate more than 200 people nightly, even though many homeless are reluctant to stay in shelters and follow the rules of communal living.

“The rain has driven people out of the safe zones they’ve created,” said Cold Weather Project Executive Director Ken Brooks, who also reports increasing cases of illness among the occupants. On Friday, a TB-screening unit was rolled in for the residents and staff.

Even the homeless who find space at night in the cold weather armories must weather the storm on their own during the day; occupants are turned out at 6 a.m.

For Jerome, 39, the torrents have provided a unique opportunity. Like many homeless people, he earns extra money by picking up cans and bottles to recycle. In the rain, his competition had all but gone away. With business this good, he said, the wetness didn’t bother him.

“I just get out in the rain and keep picking up cans,” said Jerome as he pushed a shopping cart full of recyclables and loaves of stale bread “for the birds in the park” through a Santa Monica parking lot.

On the other end of the spectrum, Silvestri Fernandez, 43, appeared the epitome of misery as he stood under a tree in a Santa Monica industrial zone. Wrapped in a brown plastic garbage bag, heavy khakis and a thick blue coat, he nevertheless was soaked to the skin. His hands were icy to the touch.

Asked where he had slept for the last few nights, Fernandez said, “I just sleep in alleys or wherever the night catches me.” Did he have an idea of where he would spend that night? Fernandez thought, then shook his head, “No.”