CLEVELAND — Ohioans in areas affected by last week’s severe weather who lost food due to the extended power outages now have longer to request replacements to their SNAP benefits.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohioans in areas affected by last week’s severe weather who lost food due to the extended power outages now have longer to request replacements to their SNAP benefits

  • Those who purchased food with SNAP benefits can apply for replacement benefits for the food they lost if they lost power for four hours or longer

  • After the storms hit on Tuesday last week, thousands of residents in northern Ohio were without power for days

Matt Damschroder, the director of The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), made this announcement Friday for those residents in the northern Ohio counties affected by the storms: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Portage, Summit, and Trumbull.

“We have secured a federal waiver that will help SNAP recipients who were impacted by the recent widespread power outages in northeast Ohio,” Damschroder said in a department press release. “This waiver increases the window for seeking reimbursement of benefits from 10 to 30 days.”

Those who purchased food with SNAP benefits can apply for replacement benefits for the food they lost if they lost power for four hours or longer. Their replacement benefits cannot exceed the monthly allotment.

After the storms hit on Tuesday last week, thousands of residents in northern Ohio were without power for days.

“The CDJFS (County Department of Job and Family Services) will have to verify the extended power outage before replacing benefits. Households should be prepared to provide verification of the extended power outage,” the release reads. “This includes screenshots of news reports, text or email alerts, or outage maps that show their specific area was without power for four hours or more.

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