Conroe warming centers house people amid rain, sleet, cold conditions

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- People in Montgomery County are using warming centers to stay safe amid rain, sleet, and cold.

Under Over Fellowship church is one location opening its doors in Conroe.

"We as Texans are not ready for this type of weather, and people -- as much as they prepare -- there's still a need to stay, stay warm. (If) people lose power, they don't have an ability to cook food. So, we want to provide a place where they can come and be safe," Pastor Jerry Vineyard said.

Pastor Vineyard said about 60 people stayed at their Conroe warming center overnight.

One of those people is Scott Benham, who said having a place like this means the world to him.

"It's everything. You got a lot of homeless out here in the parks that are just sleeping in tents and sometimes don't even have a sleeping bag, and to have some place like this, it's fantastic. You can't put a price on it," Benham said.

Dozens are going in and out of the building on Sunday, and Pastor Vineyard says they are one of the locations that accept pets, in addition to providing a place to sleep and eat.

"We, as a church, equipped ourselves. We have a 110kWh generator, so we don't lose power and run a massive kitchen operation. Our goal is to become an emergency shelter in emergency situations like this, so we can feed people and house people. We have a medical clinic on site, where we can -- laundry, showers, the whole gamete," Vineyard said.

Vineyard said the overnight shelter will stay open through the week.

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