The island emerged from a winter-weather thrashing last week mostly unscathed, after high winds knocked out power for many residents just days before sub-freezing temperatures gripped the region throughout the weekend.

Temperatures plunged below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) Thursday afternoon in the greater Seattle area and did not begin to thaw in many areas until Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Over the weekend, it mostly ranged from the mid-teens to the low twenties across Vashon-Maury island, and wind chills made the air even more frigid.

Fortunately, Vashon Island Fire and Rescue (VIFR) chief Matt Vinci confirmed Monday that VIFR was not aware of any deaths or serious injuries related to the windstorm or cold temperatures.

Calls for donations through Voice of Vashon, the Vashon Social Services Network and various island social services agencies produced truckfulls of sleeping bags and warm clothes donated by islanders for Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness (IFCH) president Hilary Emmer to hand out. Islanders such as Scott Daniel Hooker and Mardi Ledbetter also reported their independent efforts to supply those in need with clothing, blankets and bedding.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society helped deliver firewood to those in need, the Vashon United Methodist Church continued offering free hot showers, and the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness continued cooking free community meals each weeknight at the Vashon Presbyterian Church.

The Beachcomber asked Emmer and VashonBePrepared’s board President Vicky de Monterey Richoux and Vice President Rick Wallace what worked in the island’s response to the weather, and where there is room for improvement.

Those services included warming centers at Vashon Center for the Arts and the King County Library, on both Saturday and Sunday, although the library was originally scheduled to only be open on Saturday. Wallace praised Vinci for lobbying the county to let the island use the library again on Sunday for that purpose. He said he hopes the library can again serve that purpose in future weather events, even on days the library is scheduled to be closed — especially because it’s a place that many unhoused people use to access the internet and other services.

Still, Wallace said, he hopes for more timely help next time. Sunday use of the library was only secured as a warming center on Saturday afternoon, and challenges with communicating to people who are unhoused reduced the number of people it could have served, he said.

Emmer spent the weekend driving and delivering coats, blankets, gloves and sleeping bags to those in need. That work continued through Monday, when clothes and sleeping bags were still being donated at the IFCH / Presbyterian Church meal. “The socks made people’s eyes light up,” she said. “We can always use warm socks and gloves.”

Emmer said that without physical flyers posted around town or advance notice of the warming centers, news shared through online, radio or social media channels did not reach many of the people who could have used those resources.

“It makes a lot of middle class people satisfied that they think they did (something),” Emmer said. “But if you don’t talk to the people that are needing these (resources), then it’s just an exercise as an exercise.”

While warming centers offered relief during the day, Vashon has no overnight extreme weather shelter, meaning those without a stable home on the island spent the weekend crashing on a friend’s couch, curling up in their car — or at worst — sheltering in sleeping bags, tents or thick jackets under the wind and cold.

There aren’t very many people who slept outside during the weather event, Emmer said, estimating that only about seven people are sleeping outside on the island “on a regular basis” while others sleep in cars, trailers, sheds and in other makeshift shelters.

An overnight shelter is possible but would require trained volunteers to keep the space safe and stay awake during the night, Wallace said. VashonBePrepared has the money, 300+ cots and more supplies, and options for spaces, de Monterey Richoux and Wallace said, and after receiving many calls and emails about the need for an overnight shelter, they hope islanders will help them solve the only other factor: Willing volunteers.

Wallace outlined two valid ways that could go — a formal shelter set up by VashonBePrepared, with trained volunteers and insurance coverage for the site, or a community group-led shelter, which could be deployed more easily and supported by VashonBePrepared, such as through funding and public information. They’re eager to do the latter, Wallace said, but have not yet found a partner to sustain that effort.

Interested volunteers can contact Volunteer@VashonBePrepared.org.

Emmer agreed that the island would benefit from an overnight shelter, and both she and the VashonBePrepared team said they’ve been in contact with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

At the end of the day, de Monterey Richoux and Wallace said, the essential problem underlying the crisis is a lack of affordable housing.

“The fundamental problem is not that it got cold,” Wallace said. “And it’s not that we weren’t able to do emergency overnight sheltering. The fundamental problem … is (not) having housing that people can afford. … If somebody was sharing a room (via Vashon HouseHold’s Homeshare program), this would not be a problem for them. They’d have a room.”

“We have a smaller population of people who are known to each other,” de Monterey Richoux said. “I feel like if we can’t solve these problems here, nowhere can. It’s not anonymous, it’s not overwhelming, and already a lot of the work is being done.”

Amid efforts to warm and supply the community, VIFR and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) crews worked across the island last week responding to emergencies.

VIFR responded to 14 emergency calls during the wind storm over Jan. 8 and 9, and another 27 calls over the cold snap weekend.

Those included many reports of downed wires and trees, broken water and sprinkler system pipes, and several transports to hospitals in Tacoma and Seattle, Fire Chief Matt Vinci said in an email.

VIFR’s frontline ambulance from the Burton station broke down and was towed from the Tahlequah Dock on Saturday night, so the agency switched to staffing Station 56 with its 14-year-old ambulance.

On Sunday, the Valley Communications Center (VCC) dispatch was “inundated with 911 calls in South King County for broken pipes, forcing VCC to implement their storm procedures as calls were being stacked and prioritized,” Vinci wrote. On Sunday, VIFR responded to broken water pipes causing damage at the Methodist Church and two residences.

Monday saw VIFR respond to additional water break damage at McMurray Middle School, the King County Library and the building recently purchased and now owned by the Seattle Indian Health Board, Vinci wrote.

School district Superintendent Slade McSheehy said two other buildings on district property also sustained water damage from broken pipes. The damage at McMurray was contained to the administrative office and did not affect classrooms, McSheehy said.

Anyone can contribute to efforts to provide emergency sheltering or day-time warming “long before the weather gets cold,” de Monterey Richoux said, and she encouraged residents to volunteer directly with groups serving the community like the Interfaith Council, Vashon HouseHold, the DOVE Project and St. Vincent de Paul.

“While VashonBePrepared, we think about these things a lot, and we work very hard on communications and funding, the real work on the ground is being done by some very tireless and under-sung people, like Hilary (Emmer) … and the Vashon HouseHold folks,” de Monterey Richoux said. “They’re working in the trenches every day of the year.”