Frigid cold is setting in and by Saturday night, wind chills could plummet to 24 degrees below zero in Knox County.
A wind chill advisory is set to take effect throughout the listening area tonight at midnight, lasting through 10 a.m. tomorrow.
With such blistering cold on the fringe, Galesburg police are reminding residents to stay safe.
GPD Lt. Russ Idle tells WGIL there are plenty of public buildings that act as places for residents to get warm if they can’t find shelter elsewhere.
“The library is open, the public safety building is open, the hospitals are open, the health department — any one of those public facilities would be available to someone who was in dire straights to walk into. We could try to figure out a way to help them out,” Idle says.
The public safety building and two area hospitals are available 24-hours a day. The facilities are “unofficial” warming shelters. Idle says police would enact more formal shelters if temperatures really plummet and present unsafe conditions.
The police official reminds residents to check on their neighbors, especially the elderly or the sick.
“Just a friendly phone call or to stop by never hurt,” Idle says.
Residents are also reminded that using an oven as a heat source is a fire hazard.
