VESTAL, NY (WSKG)—Residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and lost power during the snowstorm last week are eligible for aid.
Households must report the loss to their county Department of Social Services within 10 days of losing power.
“If they are currently on SNAP and they did lose their food, their refrigerator, freezers—whatever—because of the loss of power, they're encouraged to come in and get that replaced,” said Jessie Sullivan, the deputy commissioner for Assistance Programs at the Broome County Department of Social Services.
Sullivan said SNAP recipients in Broome County can call or visit the Department of Social Services at its offices in Binghamton or Johnson City to apply.
Households will be asked to fill out a form stating the monetary value of the food they lost during the outage.
More than 40,000 residents in Broome County lost power during the snowstorm earlier last week. Thousands more New Yorkers experienced outages across 11 counties.
Broome County lifted its State of Emergency and travel advisory on Friday afternoon. County officials said roads are safe, but encouraged drivers to use caution as workers continue to remove debris.
40,000 pounds of dry ice were delivered to residents last week. Additional supplies are available at fire stations throughout the county.
More than 8,000 NYSEG customers in Broome, Chenango and Otsego counties were still without power as of Friday afternoon. NYSEG estimated that power will be restored to most customers throughout the weekend.