Miami residents stand on 10 hours waiting in line for help for survivors

Фото: Depositphotos

Florida residents who were hit by the devastating Hurricane Irma had to queue for 10 hours to get financial help to buy food. Writes about it The miami herald.

When Figueroa, of Westchester, learned about payments from D-SNAP — the Department of Children, Family Services and Disaster Assistance — she went to get some financial help.

After waiting 10 hours in the heat, Figueroa received about $ 700 in electronic benefits card (EBT) for food for the next 90 days.

“It was worth the 10-hour wait,” she said. “It’s better than nothing, and I’m so grateful.”

Figueroa was among tens of thousands of people — 50 in Miami alone — over the past few days who braved the heat for food cards.

The temporary funds were aimed at those who are not eligible for regular food stamps, but were affected by the disaster due to Hurricane Irma.

After people began to converge en masse, flock to the centers, forming long lines under the scorching sun, the police, together with local officials, came to a decision to close some of the aid centers. However, this only caused negative public opinion and bewilderment as to why DCF does not have a better system.

Enrique Gonzalez, a Haldaleil Beach resident, said he waited from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the park Cb smith in Pembroke Pines and was left with nothing.

“It was crazy,” he said. “Everything was so poorly organized.” "Perhaps they didn't expect there to be so many people and things got out of control."

Gonzalez, who works in construction, said he was left without a refrigerator stocked with meat, cheese and other perishables and incurred unexpected costs for shutters. “The average person doesn’t make enough to recover from all of this on their own,” he said.

The agency has yet to say when it will schedule payment days or what has led to chaotic centers across the state.

Jessica Sims, spokeswoman for DCF, told The miami herald about the lack of an exact timetable for the opening of centers. In an email, she said it would be "at the end of this month."

The reaction of people comes as no surprise to Janet Sanchez from United way, who said that 58% of families from Miami-Dade (that's about 493 families) are in poverty or barely making ends meet.

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