SNAP recipients to get ‘replacement’ benefits for outages caused by Tropical Storm Ernesto

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Department of Human Services announced Thursday the issuance of replacement benefits for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients affected by prolonged power outages caused by Tropical Storm Ernesto.

According to DHS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has approved the mass replacement benefits for eligible recipients whose cases were approved on or before August 14, 2024. As a result, these SNAP recipients will receive 75 percent of their monthly allotment automatically loaded onto their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards on August 29, 2024.

The replacement benefits aim to assist those whose food was spoiled due to the extended electrical outages following the storm. VIDHS emphasized that it worked diligently to secure this relief by communicating the urgent needs of the community to federal authorities, who responded by authorizing the necessary support for impacted residents.