With an Arctic freeze chilling everyone’s bones these days, the homeless are in even more dire straits than usual.

It has gotten so cold that 27 people who were desperate to get off the streets were turned away from the Siloam Mission on Sunday night. That was just the number on its waiting list.

“There could have been even more,” Siloam Mission CEO Gary Corbett said Monday. “We have 110 beds here and we are full every night. We directed them to the Salvation Army (on Main Street), but how many of them ended up there, I don’t know.”

The Salvation Army can accommodate as many as 500 people by throwing mattresses on the floor.

“It’s not very comfortable, but at least they’re inside,” Corbett said.

A 53-year-old woman was found unconscious on Portage Avenue on Sunday morning, when temperatures hit a low of -24 C, and she died a short time later. She may have frozen to death.

According to Corbett, she was not a member of the homeless community.

“My heart goes out that woman’s family,” Corbett said. “The hard cold at 30-below not only makes it hard, it’s not sustainable ... We don’t get a lot of deaths here, but we do get a lot of trauma, people with frozen fingers, toes, ears. Sometimes, they get (their digits) amputated.”

Part of the problem was that the milder temperatures heading into the last couple of weeks left too many unprepared for the sudden drop in mercury, Corbett said.

“We leave our doors open as long as possible and tell them to layer their clothing,” he said. “If they don’t have proper clothing, we send them to the (mission’s) clothing department and say, ‘Get what you need.’ We tell them to try to find a relative that can give them shelter.”

Police, firefighters and paramedics will pick up anyone in distress. The Main Street Project once had a van to patrol for those in trouble, but lost its funding two years ago.

Concerned citizens are encouraged to pitch in.

“We really need men’s winter boots,” Corbett said. “We need parkas, scarves, toques and sweaters. And we always need financial assistance, especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Temperatures are expected remain close to the minus-20s for much of this week, with the wind chill making it feel like it’s in the minus-30s.

jbender@postmedia.com

Twitter: @bendersun