If you receive food stamps, check your account. You may have some extra money post Irma

If you currently have food stamps, and live in Miami-Dade, Broward or Monroe counties, you may have had more money deposited than expected post Hurricane Irma.

This week, State officials, along with the United States Department of Agriculture, provided an additional $133 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for current food assistance recipients in areas most severely impacted by Hurricane Irma.

About 1.5 million households in 52 Florida counties received an additional 40 percent of the amount of their regular September benefits amount. Food stamps now run on a debit card system. The money was automatically loaded into each household’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) account.

The effort was coordinated by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and helps households that already receive food stamps recover food lost or destroyed by the storm or power outages.

In addition, DCF submitted a request to the USDA to activate Disaster SNAP (D-SNAP) Florida. D-SNAP gives food assistance to low-income households with food loss or damage caused by a natural disaster.

Though the program has not been activated yet, it would give extra food stamps to SNAP recipients and eligible non-SNAP recipients. You can learn more about it here.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 2:45 PM with the headline "If you receive food stamps, check your account. You may have some extra money post Irma."