The V.I. Department of Human Services has distributed $539,891 in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to 3,755 households on St. Thomas and St. John, following federal approval to replace food lost during widespread power outages that began October 21.
The benefits were automatically loaded onto eligible residents' Electronic Benefit Transfer cards on Saturday, November 7, two days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service approved a mass replacement waiver requested by Human Services Commissioner Averil George.
The approval, confirmed on USDA's disaster assistance website, authorized replacement benefits equal to 30 percent of the regular SNAP assistance households received in the month preceding the October 21 outages. Replacement amounts were rounded up to the nearest dollar.
According to the Department of Human Services' November 9 announcement, qualifying recipients in seven ZIP codes received their replacement assistance without having to visit a government office, submit an affidavit or individually document the food they lost.
The ZIP codes covered by the automatic distribution are 00801, 00802, 00803, 00804, 00805, 00830 and 00831, encompassing designated areas of St. Thomas and St. John.
The federal authorization follows an effort by the Bryan administration to obtain assistance for residents who lost refrigerated and frozen groceries during several days of electricity disruptions.
As the Consortium reported October 25, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. directed the Department of Human Services to pursue federal approval after repeated failures at the Randolph Harley Power Plant disrupted electricity service throughout the district.
In an October 23 letter to V.I. Water and Power Authority Chief Executive Officer Karl Knight, Commissioner George requested documentation establishing the duration of the outages, including confirmation that interruptions lasted more than four hours and the number of residents affected. That information was needed to support the territory's request for federal food replacement assistance.
At the time of the Consortium's initial reporting, the federal government had not approved an automatic replacement program or announced a distribution schedule. USDA's November 5 decision authorized the assistance, and DHS subsequently completed the automated issuance.
The waiver eliminates the normal individual application process for eligible households in the seven designated ZIP codes. Under standard DHS procedures, SNAP recipients seeking replacement of food lost because of a household disaster or power failure generally must report the loss within 10 days and submit a replacement request. The new mass replacement approval allows affected households in the designated areas to receive assistance without completing those steps.
USDA also advises that SNAP households in other affected areas may request replacement benefits by submitting an affidavit attesting to disaster-related food losses, subject to applicable eligibility and reporting requirements.
Recipients who believe they qualify for the automatic replacement but do not see the additional benefits on their EBT cards can contact the Department of Human Services. St. Thomas residents may call 340-774-0930 or 340-774-2399, while St. John residents may contact 340-776-6334.
Households may also check their EBT balances by calling 1-866-884-2868 or accessing the ebtEDGE service.
The November distribution marks the latest instance of federal assistance to replace SNAP-purchased groceries lost during prolonged power interruptions in the Virgin Islands. Following Tropical Storm Ernesto in August 2024, USDA approved automatic replacement benefits covering 75 percent of eligible households' monthly SNAP allotments across the territory.
