A homeless person's tent is seen on an overpass in Washington, DC on January 5, 2018. (Photo: VCG)

The number of homeless Americans rose to about 550,000 in 2017, the first increase since 2010, according to statistics released by civil aid organizations in the US.

New York, the largest city on the east coast, witnessed the most homeless last year: 130,000. Heavy snowstorms hit the northwest US in December, with temperatures below zero at night.

In Boston, a hospice averaged about 500 homeless people a night in 2017, but since Christmas, the hospice has accepted about 600 daily.

In the last 11 days, temperatures in Boston have always been below zero and are expected to drop as low as minus 17.8 degrees Celsius .A cold wave gripping a large section of the United States had already been blamed for a dozen deaths.