Mississippi SNAP recipients affected by Wednesday night’s storms and tornadoes will have the opportunity to apply for replacement benefits.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services allows beneficiaries of the federal food assistance program to seek relief whenever items purchased with SNAP funds are destroyed due to a disaster, including an extreme weather event that causes power to go out in homes.
On Wednesday, inclement weather rolled through the southwestern and Pine Belt Regions of the state, with at least three tornadoes touching down, injuring at least 17 people, while damaging hundreds of homes and leaving around 15,000 without power. The counties hit hardest were Lamar, Lawrence, and Lincoln.
“Clients who experience a power outage lasting longer than four hours due to recent storms may be eligible to request replacement SNAP benefits,” a release from MDHS reads, with officials adding that requests can be submitted through the designated SNAP replacement benefits form available on the state agency’s website.
Clients are encouraged to manage their cases using their access.ms.gov portal or the secure document upload feature on our website to upload documents quickly and securely, and to check case information and benefit status.
Those who meet the criteria will be asked to report the value of the food lost in the disaster. If approved, replacement benefits equal to the value of the food lost will be issued, up to the maximum amount of SNAP benefits issued for the month, per officials.
For food purchased with SNAP benefits to be replaced, the disaster must be reported within 10 days of the date the loss occurred.
