Disaster SNAP benefits in Florida have included Orange County residents in phase two of its program, which opened on October 17.

Counties that were opened today in the phase two of the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are Flagler, Highlands, Manatee, Orange, Pinellas, and St. Johns Counties, as reported by the Newsroom of Orange County Government.

Pre-registration is needed by all applicants who seek to qualify for benefits, with applications that can be done through a phone interview at the D-SNAP Call Center.

Applicants can also visit a D-SNAP event for an on-site interview. However, phone interviews are more encouraged as they help quicken the process of service to eligible households.

Pre-registration will be on October 17-23 while phone interviews will be on October 20-23.

Phone interviews have a staggered schedule based on the applicants' last name initials. Those with last names that begin with A to F can call on October 20.

Applicants with last names starting with G to N can call on October 21, while those with last names beginning with O to Z can call on October 22.

October 23 is a day when any applicant with any last name can call.

READ NEXT: Disaster SNAP Benefits: Who Is Eligible to Get Extra Payments, Hurricane Ian Aid in Florida?

Disaster SNAP Benefits Florida

The second phase of the Disaster SNAP benefits in Florida opened on Monday for some Central Florida counties, as announced by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

WFTV 9 News reported that DCF Secretary Shevaun Harris said that the first phase of the D-SNAP benefits has been highly successful with nearly 100,000 pre-registrations.

Harris then encouraged everyone to take advantage of the virtual and phone call options for the quickest service as they save time and avoid applicants from having to attend an in-person D-SNAP event.

Phase one of the phone call D-SNAP implementation was on October 10 and ended on October 16. It included Florida counties such as Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Lee, Polk, and Sarasota.

Meanwhile, phase three is set to begin on October 27, and covers the counties Hillsborough, Lake, Osceola, Putnam, Seminole, and Volusia.

SNAP Benefits Payments After Hurricane Ian

The Florida DCF announced on October 3 that food replacement benefits are available to SNAP recipients who suffered food losses due to Hurricane Ian.

The Department received approval to issue mass replacements of SNAP benefits payments for households that did not receive an early release of October payments.

Some received early SNAP benefits payments in late September ahead of the storm, according to an AOL report.

Replacement benefits were automatically deposited onto SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer cards earlier in the first week of October.

Florida households that usually receive SNAP benefits from October 1 to 14 received their SNAP benefits payments on September 27 to help with storm preparation.

The state DCF noted that it cannot process the mass replacement of benefits for those households that received their benefits early, as stated under federal guidelines.

READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Update: $301.8 Million Texas Payments Confirmed for July 2022

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Food assistance program approved for Florida residents affected by Hurricane Ian - from News4JAX