Washington County opened two severe weather shelters Saturday afternoon. The two shelters, one located in Hillsboro and the other in Beaverton, will remain open for 24 hours throughout the severe cold forecasted.

• The Salvation Army Building – 1440 SE 21st Avenue, Hillsboro
• Beaverton Community Center – 12350 SW 5th Street, Beaverton

Hot meals will be provided for guests, and officials say no one will be turned away. Pets are also welcomed, but people are asked to work with shelter staff as the location's pet policies may vary.

CONTINUING COVERAGE | Road Crews prep for cold weather this weekend

Multnomah County says they will be opening up four shelters at 8 p.m. tonight. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson declared a state of emergency that will go into effect at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The four Multnomah County shelters that will open are listed below:

• Arbor Lodge – 1952 N. Lombard Street, Portland
• The Portland Building – 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland
• Salvation Army Moore Street Gymnasium – 5325 N. Williams Avenue, Portland
• Multnomah County East Building – 600 NE 8th Street, Gresham

All sites will welcome pets and people with disabilities. Free transportation to the shelters is available by calling 2-1-1. TriMet says they will also offer free rides if telling the driver you are going to or from a shelter.

"We're taking this severe cold snap seriously. We're declaring a state of emergency to assist the opening of warming shelters that will respond to this weather emergency and support our most needy,” said Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “This will also make transit free and raise awareness of dangerous and life-threatening conditions across the County. Please seek shelter, check on your neighbors, share information and volunteer at one of our shelters if you can."

Shelters will remain open through 8 a.m. Sunday as temperatures are forecast to rise during the day. Officials tell KATU they will continue to monitor the forecast and will open shelters when needed.

Both in Washington and Multnomah County, staff tell KATU they want to make a spot for everyone during severe weather.

In Washington County, that could mean extending into motel rooms if needed.

In Multnomah County, the Director of Emergency Management said agencies collaborate.

"We immediately communicate with Portland Fire and say “hey listen, this is the situation, we think we may exceed this number, can you maybe have an inspector come down, can we sort of re-look at the situation to make sure that we do this safely," Chris Voss said.

Voss said there's a reason the county often waits until the day of to make the final call on opening severe weather shelters.

"We want to make sure that we’re there for the highest risk times and we know that those tend to be the overnights. It’s not just that there are places where people can go during the day, but also we’re trying to avoid people give them a place to go when we know those higher risks exist," he said.

In Washington County, the Housing Communications Coordinator said staff are working with outreach teams to direct people to resources.

"Those outreach teams are really focused on making sure that the information gets to any location where we know people are experiencing homelessness could be. That could be encampments, that could be more transient points like a stop on the MAX that is more commonly inhabited by people experiencing homelessness," Emily Roots said.

At 211info, the Statewide Emergency Management Director said they're managing staff to meet the need.

"211 standard operating procedure now is that we are open 24/7. That’s regardless of a weather event. Additional steps we take during weather events include, really, offering staff extra hours, things like that, ramping up to really try and ensure that nobody is waiting on hold," Kerry Hoeschen said.

Roots said at this point, it is possible that emergency shelters could stay open until Tuesday.