Extreme cold conditions between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22 caused MU to cease on-campus operations for a day. ABC 17 News issued a Weather Alert on Feb. 16, claiming “conditions will struggle to improve and temperatures will be dangerously cold.”
As inconvenient as the weather may have been for students, it posed a serious danger to homeless individuals. According to a news release from the nonprofit Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, some contracted frostbite or hypothermia — forcing them to seek medical attention.
At these temperatures, frostbite could occur in as little as 30 minutes.
Resources like warming centers and shelters remained open to the extent they could, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic hindered their ability to accommodate people in need of residence.