As power slowly returns to homes left in the dark after recent storms, some residents worry about how to replace the food they lost after almost a week with no power.
Edward Jackson, a resident of South Dallas who lives with his mother, Melanie Jones, and grandmother, Doris Willis, said Thursday his family had to throw out $200 worth of food.
“We’re already struggling,” Jackson said.
Many other people across North Texas also have been forced to throw out hundreds of dollars worth of food and will need help to recover.
“With the economic pressures that everyone is facing, right, and inflation and rising costs of food, for people that are experiencing poverty or … already experiencing food insecurity, to lose everything due to a power outage can be devastating to them,” said Christina Cavalier, senior director of community relations for The Salvation Army.
This weekend, the city of Dallas and Dallas ISD are sponsoring a multi-agency resource center at Truett Elementary, 1810 Inadale Ave., to provide recovery services to residents impacted by Tuesday’s storms, the city said in a news release. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Representatives of volunteer organizations active in disaster relief efforts will be on hand to meet with residents.
“We recognize the severity of this storm and the impact of extended power outages,” Travis Houston, director of the Dallas Office of Emergency Management, said in the release. “We are grateful to the partners who are helping us respond to the needs of affected residents.”
Since losing power, Jackson has been going down the street to a store with power to buy food every day while a neighbor barbecued all of her meat before it went bad and gave it to neighbors.
“We’re helping each other out, but it’s ridiculous,” Jackson said. “I never seen this. I never seen this before.”
Cruz Cano, 79, and Agustin Cano, 84, in Pleasant Grove are also feeling the financial strain of spoiled food. The couple is retired, so Cruz said it was going to be hard replacing all the food in their fridge.
Maria Danny in the Casa Linda area of Dallas has coolers of ice lined up on the floor of her kitchen. Her fridge was almost empty except for a few nonperishables. Her refrigerator bins, now empty, sat outside on a table, slightly wet after washing.
Her son, Joe Velasquez, said throwing out their food is going to affect him and his mother financially; he knows some people who have been communicating with insurance companies for possible reimbursement for their spoiled food, but any insurance deductibles would likely apply.
Getting help with replacing food
The North Texas Food Bank website includes a list of food pantries for those struggling with hunger and food insecurity. The food bank also offers regular mobile distribution events, with several scheduled for around the D-FW area in the coming days, according to its website.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced that people who are part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in certain disaster counties are eligible for hot food purchases and possible replacement benefits. As of Friday, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Cooke and Collin counties are not on the list.
Recipients in other counties can apply in person at a benefits office for replacement benefits within 10 days of discovering food loss due to the recent storms.
Dallas ISD offers free meals each summer to all students.
However, Tuesday morning’s storms closed down all DISD schools and left 63 of the district’s 240 schools without power, according to a social media post from Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde. The district’s website indicated that DISD was supposed to begin its summer meal service at eight of the district’s 96 summer meal locations on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
However, Sebastian Saucedo, coordinator for strategic media relations for DISD said in an email Wednesday that all food programs were scheduled to begin June 5 and were therefore unaffected by Tuesday’s storms. It is unknown why there is a discrepancy between start dates and if it is related to the storms.
However, even during these extreme weather events, some schools and other public locations are supposed to offer free meals in the wake of disasters. The United States Department of Agriculture says that schools, child care centers and summer sites that normally operate certain free meal programs may serve free meals to families in the wake of disasters. The department recommends those who are searching for free meals should contact local child care centers, schools, summer sites and emergency shelters.
Organizations that offer food to low-income Texans, such as the Salvation Army, also anticipate an increase in people seeking help.
“The ones we’re going to see are those that probably already struggled with food insecurity,” said Paul McFarland, area commander of The Salvation Army of North Texas. “And, and especially now with the increase in grocery costs, losing power for that time. It’s going to put them even in a bigger bind.”
“The average Americans don’t even think about that,” McFarland added. “They don’t think about the impact that has on someone if you have to get rid of everything in the refrigerator. And for many of our citizens, there’s not that extra funds available.”
