USDA approves SNAP waiver for Georgia residents impacted by Hurricane Helene

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the approval of a temporary waiver for Georgia residents with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to get hot food until early November in response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

SNAP beneficiaries in 84 Georgia counties can now use their benefits to buy hot foods until Nov. 7.

The USDA said the waiver was important because many Georgia residents who evacuated to shelters cannot store food and lack access to facilities needed to cook their own food.

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Normally, the USDA said SNAP benefits can’t be used to buy hot foods, but authorized retailers have been notified that Georgia families in the program will be allowed to for roughly a month.

The areas where this waiver is active are “Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Franklin, Glascock, Glynn, Habersham, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Irwin, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Madison, McDuffie, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morgan, Monroe, Newton, Oglethorpe, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, Screven, Spalding, Stephens, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Walton, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson, Wheeler and Worth counties.”

The federal agency said they’re also “ready to consider additional waivers that may be needed to help program participants who have lost food due to the disaster and to simplify the application process for affected households, upon request from the Georgia Department of Human Services.”

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At the state level, DHS reminded SNAP recipients in 61 counties were given extra time to report the loss of food due to power outages caused by Hurricane Helene’s damage in the state.

According to DHS, SNAP recipients in Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Stephens, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Wilkes counties will be able to request SNAP benefit replacements until Oct. 25.

There’s an online form for families and other SNAP recipients to fill out to get the replacement assistance from the Division of Family and Children Services.

However, for those who would prefer to go in-person, some offices are closed as a result of Helene’s impacts.

“The Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) sought the deadline extension to help low-income families, many of whom were displaced from their homes for several days, feed their families as they recover from the storm,” DHS said in a statement.

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