Corpus Christi is quickly responding to dropping temperatures by opening two warming shelters, giving residents a safe place to stay warm.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Temperatures are falling fast this weekend, and the city of Corpus Christi has responded by opening two warming shelters across the city.

One by one, people made their way into the Ben Garza Gym. It opened a few hours earlier than planned — something Joe and Mary Garza say they are thankful for.

“Because it’s the best place to stay warm so you won’t freeze to death,” Joe said.

They say they’re not taking any chances, especially since Mary is anemic.

“We’ve been homeless for 11 years, and we’ve got nowhere else to go. That’s the only place where we can have our dog,” Joe said.

Meanwhile, Carlos Munoz and Angel skipped the warming shelter during last year’s freeze — but this time, they decided to come.

“Because it’s cold out here. We wanted to be somewhere warm, where they help us out too,” Munoz said.

Strategic business manager and shelter lead Scott Greene said the city is running two shelters around the clock, staffed by city employees.

“Our goal is to get as many people warm, safe and fed as we can. We’re set to hold 100 here, and we also have another facility — the FEMA Dome on the Del Mar campus. We’re probably going to do about 100 there as well, if possible,” Greene said.

City Manager Peter Zanoni said the city is also offering free rides to help people get to the warming shelters.

“RTA is a very big partner of ours. They are providing free transportation to any one of these shelters up until 10 p.m. each night,” Zanoni said. “During the daytime, they’ll provide free transportation here, as well as to any of our warming centers at libraries and senior centers.”

Zanoni said both shelters are open to anyone.

“There are really minimal to no requirements. We’re not looking for IDs. We’re not doing any type of searching for drugs or weapons,” Zanoni said. “We do have Corpus Christi police at both centers monitoring to make sure people stay safe.”

Munoz hopes people will listen to experts and take the cold weather seriously.

“So they can stay warm, not get sick out there and not pass away from something they don’t deserve. You can just come over here, get warm, talk to people and feel safe,” Munoz said.