HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – The rush to receive disaster food relief in the wake of Hurricane Harvey came down to the last second for Harris County residents at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The last wave of applicants came through just minutes after the 7 p.m. deadline.
But not all who showed up made it in time -- and some of them weren't happy. Folks like Ida Parker are hoping for an extension.
"I really needed the benefits because I don't have a job right now and I can't get to my patients," Parker said. "When the flood came through it disrupted everything."
The official name of the program is the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or D-SNAP.
The agency that coordinated the application process -- Texas Health and Human Services -- says an extension is not likely.
They're referring people in need to the state's non-disaster assistance program, SNAP.
"If there's an ongoing food need we're going to verify their loss of income, their loss of resources," says Wayne Salter, associate commissioner of HHS. "So, those individuals will be good candidates for the ongoing SNAP program."
The state says in the 15 days it offered D-SNAP in Harris County they served a total of 260,000 individuals, which they say amounts to 634,400 individuals.
HHS has decided to extend the D-SNAP program to Galveston, Wharton, and Montgomery counties.
