The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center (ATCEOC) will activate at 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, in response to winter weather impacting the Central Texas region. Austin’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (HSEM) is coordinating the response to this event with other City service departments and non-governmental organizations. Critical updates will be posted online at austintexas.gov/alerts in 14 languages.

With the City facilities closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and temperatures not expected to climb above 40 degrees, the City will shift to 24-hour operations of Cold Weather Shelters on Monday. Individuals who stay in a shelter Sunday night will be allowed to stay all day Monday and check out Tuesday. If they need or want to leave on Monday, they will need to go through the registration process again for Monday night at One Texas Center. The City announced Cold Weather Shelters will be open Saturday, Jan. 18 through Wednesday, Jan. 22 earlier this week along with details on registration and embarkation at OTC.  

Also, because many Austinites may still need a warm place to seek reprieve from the cold during the day Monday, Austin Public Library is opening three branches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those branches are:  

• Terrazas Branch – 1105 E. Cesar Chavez St.
• Ruiz Branch – 1600 Grove Blvd.
• Little Walnut Branch – 835 W. Rundberg Ln.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Central Library, located downtown at 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. will open and hour early at 8 a.m. All other APL branches will be available as Warming Centers during regular business hours. A Warming Centers map can be found on the City’s Alerts webpage.

The EOC will remain operational until further notice. In addition to the Alerts page listed above, updates will be posted on @AustinHSEM social media accounts on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram, and shared to official City of Austin social media accounts. Community members are encouraged to follow their preferred local news media for up-to-date information. HSEM will contact reporters to ensure they have up-to-date information for the public. 

A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect from the National Weather Service until noon Wednesday, Jan. 22, and a Winter Storm Warning will go into effect at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 through Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.  

HSEM asks all members of the community to take necessary actions to protect themselves and other household members including pets for this event. Information on preparing for, withstanding, and recovering from a variety of emergencies is available online at ReadyCentralTexas.org.  

Please do not call 911 unless you have a medical or life-threatening emergency. If you need other types of service or assistance from the city, please call 311 or 512-974-2000 or download the 311 mobile app. Keeping 911 lines clear for only emergencies will aid the City to properly dispatch first responders and emergency personnel to those who need help.

If you have not signed up to receive emergency alerts on your phone, please visit WarnCentralTexas.org to register. Alerts can be sent via text, call, and/or email.

The City encourages everyone to stay safe and be resilient. Take measures to protect the four Ps: People, Pets, Pipes, and Plants. HSEM will provide updates throughout the EOC activation and notify members of the media accordingly as well.

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