Occupy Wall Streeters worry over weather

Whipping winds, torrential downpours and imminent freezing temperatures have led to hypothermia, bouts of cold and flu, and even fears of trench foot, several Occupy Wall Street protesters said Sunday.

"We're definitely starting to see more weather-related ailments," said Jose Whelan, 28, of Montpelier, Vt., an EMT volunteering at the camp's two medical tents.

He said he has so far treated only mild cases of hypothermia -- offering patients a dry change of clothes, vitamin C and herbs, and monitoring their temperatures -- but cautioned that more serious illness could result from sleeping outside as winter nears.

"We're hoping the police will continue to let people put up tents," Whelan said. "It would give them shelter, keep them out of the rain."

With overnight temperatures beginning to dip into the 40s, dozens of tents have sprung up at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park for the hundreds of protesters who have camped there since Sept. 17.

"After last week's rain and stuff, people were like, 'You know what? We can handle this.' And one after another, tents started popping up," said Toby Stewart, 33, of Pueblo, Colo. "People don't want to be wet again. That was brutal."

Demonstrators have said the tents show their determination to hunker down through the cold months. Zuccotti Park's owner, Brookfield Office Properties, has stressed to little avail that no tents or tarps are permitted there. A spokeswoman for Brookfield, Melissa Coley, declined to make additional comment Sunday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg took what he called a "tent city" to task last week.

"The Constitution doesn't protect tents," Bloomberg said. "It protects speech and assembly."

Cody Thies, 19, of Minneapolis, helped to erect a "12-person tarp tent" at the park. The shelter -- five tarps draped over patio umbrellas and wooden pallets -- is named "the Alamo, because we're not taking it down for anything," he said.

Mecca Ortiz, 22, of Detroit, who has been sleeping in a massive camping tent with 14 other protesters, said the cold would be unbearable without shelter.

The city health department could not be reached for comment about the spread of illness among demonstrators. Protesters Sunday swapped information about trench foot, blisters and other afflictions potentially resulting from cold, wet feet.

"We are in the trenches here, I guess," Stewart said.

Thies said he and his colleagues plan to stick out the winter.

"We will have the shovels ready for once the first snow hits," he said.