The details
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission received federal approval to extend the deadline to June 30 for replacement benefits for food lost or destroyed by the May 28 storm, according to a June 5 news release. Replacement benefits will be added to Lone Star Cards within two business days.
Eligible residents can request replacement benefits by calling 211 or by visiting the HHSC website. SNAP recipients who don’t live in Travis County can go to a local benefits office to request replacement benefits within 10 days of discovering their food was lost or destroyed due to the storm.
Explained
SNAP is a federal program that provides food assistance to approximately 1.6 million eligible, low-income families and individuals in Texas, according to a news release from HHSC.
What they're saying
"The flooding and power outages left many communities in difficult situations, and I'm grateful we're able to offer replacement benefits to help individuals and families recover the food that was lost," said Molly Regan, HHSC deputy executive commissioner of Access and Eligibility Services.
The background
A storm caused property damage from hail, downed trees, power outages, flash floods and the loss of one life in Northeast Austin the evening of May 28, as previously reported Community Impact.
The storm brought about 2 to 3 inches of rain to the city within 30 minutes, according to city officials. Power outages were so significant that Austin Energy's Stuart Riley referred to it as the city's third worst storm, after winter storms Mara and Yuri, based on outage data history that goes back until 2012.
At the storm's peak intensity, around 72,500 Austin Energy customers were without power. Restoration of power continued through June 1.
Going forward
For other local resources, residents can:
- Call 211 for assistance finding food, health services, housing and more.
- Text “FOOD” or “COMIDA” to 304-304, the Feeding America text line, to locate food in the area.
