LOS ANGELES-- Los Angeles police say a 70-year-old homeless woman who refused services died of exposure during last week's fierce El Nino-driven storms dumped several inches of rain across the region.
Officer Norma Eisenman said Sunday that the woman was found soaked and unresponsive under a tarp on a downtown sidewalk Jan. 8.
Eisenman says the woman was offered shelter and other services twice in the days before her death, but she refused.
Officials say the incident is being investigated as an accidental death.
As the storms moved in, city officials deployed shuttles to take homeless people to shelters, where thousands of extra beds were added.
