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Free Valley service will check on elderly residents during cold weather

4 months 4 days 3 hours ago Sunday, January 14 2024 Jan 14, 2024 January 14, 2024 3:24 PM January 14, 2024 in News - Local

As the temperatures start to drop, there are many elderly people who may not have anyone to turn to if the weather turns bad.

Like 76-year-old Julia Lopez from Donna, who lives by herself.

"I am concerned, because it gets expensive if I have to have the heating on. I think about the last time there was a big freeze and I didn't have electricity for about two weeks," Lopez said.

Although she's comfortable inside her wooden home, she still worries when the weather gets bad.

That's where 211 Texas comes in to help. It's a free statewide 24-hour information and referral service that's available in all cities across the Rio Grande Valley.

Chief of Emergency Medical Services in Pharr Danny Ramirez says he encourages anyone who is older and lives alone to register over the phone.

"So now, we get a freeze, I look at those addresses. I send either [police], fire or an ambulance out there just to check on them. These people live alone, they're vulnerable, let me send somebody to make sure they're okay," Ramirez said.

Registering is a simple process. All you have to do is call 211. You'll be asked some questions and by the end of the call you'll be registered.

"It's very important that they register. We notify our nursing homes, our adult day cares so they have people at home by themselves to register them," Ramirez said.

211 services is not just for cold weather, it's also when an emergency or disaster happens.

So far, Ramirez says about 60 people have registered this year in Pharr.

Watch the video above for the full story.

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