As has been his custom since Tropical Storm Harvey struck Port Arthur, Mayor Derrick Freeman took to social media to update recovery efforts around the city.

Freeman wrote the Texas Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will start early next month.

DSNAP will be available between Oct. 2 – 8 at Central Mall. A 20,000 square foot air conditioned-cooled tent will be assembled in the parking lot.

Ford Park will available for Beaumont.

Texas survivors may be eligible for disaster food relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Households not eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly called food stamps) may qualify for DSNAP, which offers short-term food assistance benefits to families recovering from a disaster.

DSNAP is designed to help when people return to their homes and have access to electricity and grocery stores. Benefits are loaded on a Lone Star Card within three days of applying, and the amount is equal to two months of the maximum amount of SNAP benefits, based on household size.

For details, go to https://hhs.texas.gov/…/f…/disaster-assistance/disaster-snap.

Governor Greg Abbott told Freeman in Port Arthur last week the contract between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Texas General Land Office was signed during the trip over to Port Arthur.

“Which meant the housing options previously discussed are in place and will be available to our citizens very soon,” he wrote.

To learn more about the programs available go to: http://www.glo.texas.gov/texasrebuil…/individuals/index.html.

A few of the options are:

Multi-Family Lease and Repair

Direct Leasing

Manufactured Housing Options (Mobile Homes and Recreational Vehicles)

Partial Repair and Essential Power for Sheltering (PREPS)

Direct Assistance for Limited Home Repair

Since getting Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permits for three sorting sites around the city, daily load pickups have gone from four to five a day per truck to now seven to eight loads a day per truck. The city is currently up to more than 25 trucks picking up debris in all sections of the city with more being added daily.

“The governor is also sending us $10million today to help us pay our contractors and get this debris up faster,” he wrote. “Our garbage trucks have worked hard to get back to their normal schedule. Please pull your can to the street on your normal pick up day.”