The cold wind howled outside Martha Jenkins’ modest apartment in Portland as she stared at her empty refrigerator. Just three days earlier, the 68-year-old retiree had used her monthly SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) to stock up on groceries. Then the ice storm hit.
“The power was out for nearly 72 hours,” Martha explained, her voice trembling slightly. “Everything spoiled—all the meat, dairy, everything. I’m on a fixed income. That food was supposed to last me the month.”
Martha’s story is not unique in Oregon, where extreme weather events—from winter ice storms and flooding to summer wildfires and heat waves—have become increasingly common. These climate-related emergencies disproportionately impact the state’s most vulnerable residents, particularly those who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for their basic food needs.
The Hidden Impact of Weather Emergencies on Food Security
When natural disasters strike, the immediate concerns often center around safety, shelter, and power restoration. However, for the approximately 615,000 Oregonians who receive SNAP benefits, these emergencies create a cascade of additional challenges that can go unnoticed by the broader public.
“People don’t always realize how devastating food loss can be for low-income families,” explains Michael Torres, a caseworker with the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). “When you’re budgeting every dollar and your benefits are carefully calculated to last the month, losing even a few days’ worth of groceries can create a serious crisis.”
The financial impact extends beyond the immediate loss. Many SNAP recipients lack transportation options, especially in rural areas, making it difficult to evacuate with perishable food items or to replace lost groceries quickly. Additionally, those with disabilities or health conditions may face heightened risks during emergencies if they cannot access appropriate nutrition.
Diana Cooper, a single mother of three in Salem, described the aftermath of a recent winter storm: “We lost power for just 36 hours, but that was enough to spoil almost everything in our refrigerator. My youngest has severe food allergies, so we can’t just eat anything. The special foods I buy for him are expensive, and they were the first things to go bad.”
Oregon’s Replacement Benefit Program: A Safety Net with Gaps
Oregon, like other states, offers a process for SNAP recipients to request replacement benefits following disasters or household misfortunes that result in food loss. This system provides a critical lifeline for families like Martha’s and Diana’s, but navigating the process during a crisis can present its own set of challenges.
Under federal guidelines, SNAP participants who lose food due to power outages, flooding, or other disasters may qualify for replacement benefits up to the amount of their monthly allocation. However, they must report the loss within 10 days of the incident and provide documentation whenever possible.
“The timeframe can be problematic,” notes Elena Washington, an advocate with Oregon Food Justice Coalition. “During widespread emergencies, many people are focused on immediate survival needs—finding warm shelter, accessing medical care, or helping affected family members. The 10-day reporting window passes quickly when you’re in crisis mode.”
The documentation requirements create additional barriers. While ODHS tries to streamline the process during declared emergencies, recipients typically need to provide proof of the disaster’s impact on their household. This might include utility statements showing power outages, statements from landlords, or official emergency declarations specific to their area.
For rural communities, where power outages might not be formally documented or where residents might be temporarily displaced, gathering this evidence becomes particularly challenging. Indigenous communities on reservation lands sometimes face jurisdictional complications that further delay assistance.
“We see a significant gap between urban and rural access to replacement benefits,” Washington explains. “In Portland or Eugene, there’s usually better documentation of outages and more staff available to process claims. But in smaller communities along the coast or in eastern Oregon, residents often struggle to prove their eligibility, even when they’ve experienced the same emergency.”
Recent Weather Events Testing the System
The past several years have tested Oregon’s emergency food assistance systems like never before. Unprecedented wildfires in 2020 and 2021 forced thousands of evacuations while destroying homes and infrastructure. Winter storms in 2022 and 2023 left many communities without power for extended periods, while the historic heat dome of 2021 created dangerous conditions that affected food safety for days.
When a severe ice storm hit the Willamette Valley last February, approximately 45,000 SNAP households experienced power outages lasting more than 24 hours. ODHS issued an emergency protocol, temporarily waiving certain documentation requirements and extending the reporting deadline to 30 days. Despite these accommodations, only about 28,000 households successfully received replacement benefits.
“We believe many eligible families simply didn’t know replacement benefits were available or didn’t understand how to access them,” says Torres. “Communication during emergencies remains one of our biggest challenges.”
The situation highlights a critical need for improved outreach and education. When cellular networks are down and internet access is unavailable, traditional communication channels fail precisely when they’re needed most. Elderly recipients, non-English speakers, and those with limited technological literacy face particularly high barriers to accessing information about emergency benefits.
Community Solutions Filling the Gaps
While state agencies work to improve their emergency response protocols, community organizations across Oregon have developed innovative approaches to address immediate needs during weather emergencies.
The Oregon Food Bank and its network of regional partners have implemented rapid-response systems that deploy mobile food pantries to affected areas. These units can often reach communities before roads are fully cleared or power is restored, providing shelf-stable foods that don’t require refrigeration or extensive preparation.
“We’ve learned we can’t wait for formal declarations or perfect information,” says Marcus Hernandez, emergency response coordinator for the Oregon Food Bank. “If we know a community has been hit hard, we move resources there immediately and sort out the paperwork later.”
Faith-based organizations have also emerged as crucial players in the emergency food response landscape. Churches, synagogues, and mosques throughout the state have established warming centers that provide hot meals during winter emergencies, often using generator power when electricity is unavailable.
In Portland’s diverse East County region, culturally specific organizations have developed targeted response systems that address the unique needs of immigrant and refugee communities. The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) maintains emergency food supplies that include staples familiar to the diverse populations they serve.
“Food is cultural, and during times of stress, familiar foods provide more than just nutrition—they offer comfort and stability,” explains Mei Lin Chen, IRCO’s emergency services coordinator. “We stock ingredients used in East African, Southeast Asian, and Eastern European cooking so families can maintain some normalcy even during a crisis.”
Technological Innovations and Policy Solutions
As Oregon grapples with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, both technological innovations and policy reforms are being explored to strengthen the emergency food assistance system.
At the technological level, several counties have piloted text-message alert systems that automatically notify SNAP recipients about potential benefit replacements following documented power outages. These systems send messages in multiple languages with simple instructions for requesting replacements.
Portland State University’s Urban Planning Department has developed an interactive mapping tool that overlays SNAP participation data with power outage information, helping agencies identify high-need areas for targeted outreach during emergencies. This tool allows for more efficient deployment of mobile food pantries and outreach workers.
At the policy level, advocates are pushing for several reforms that would streamline assistance during emergencies:
- Automatic replacement benefits for all SNAP households in declared disaster areas, eliminating the need for individual applications during widespread emergencies
- Extended reporting windows that give recipients 30 days rather than 10 days to report food loss during major events
- Simplified documentation requirements that acknowledge the realities of emergency situations, especially in rural and tribal areas
- Increased emergency allotments that recognize the higher food costs often associated with disasters when local stores may be closed or have limited inventory
State Representative Maria Rodriguez has introduced legislation that would implement several of these recommendations. “Climate change means these weather emergencies aren’t going away,” she notes. “We need to adapt our systems to the new reality our vulnerable neighbors are facing.”
The Human Element: Dignity in Crisis
Beyond the practical challenges of program administration lies a deeper concern: preserving the dignity of those seeking assistance during already stressful circumstances.
“Nobody wants to stand in line for food or fill out complicated forms explaining why they need help,” says Washington. “Our systems should recognize the trauma people experience during disasters and minimize additional stress.”
Community advocates emphasize that emergency food assistance shouldn’t feel like charity but rather like a reasonable response to extraordinary circumstances that could affect anyone. This perspective has led to more client-centered approaches at many distribution sites, where recipients are treated as participants rather than beneficiaries.
The Rockwood Food Collaborative in East Portland exemplifies this approach. During recent emergencies, they’ve operated their distribution site using a “shopping model” where recipients can select items based on their preferences and needs rather than receiving pre-packaged boxes.
“Choice is dignity,” explains Jamila West, the Collaborative’s director. “Even in an emergency, people deserve to maintain agency over something as personal as the food they eat.”
Looking Forward: Building Resilience
As Oregon prepares for future climate-related emergencies, experts emphasize that resilience must be built at both the system and household levels.
For the SNAP system itself, this means developing more flexible protocols, improving communication channels, and strengthening coordination between government agencies and community organizations. It also requires adequate funding for staffing during emergencies when application volumes spike.
At the household level, ODHS has begun incorporating emergency preparedness information into regular SNAP communications, encouraging recipients to develop personal emergency plans that include food considerations. Some community organizations offer workshops on food storage methods that can extend shelf life during power outages and strategies for maximizing nutrition when cooking facilities are limited.
“We’re trying to strike a balance,” Torres explains. “We want people to be prepared without creating additional anxiety or financial burden. Simple steps like keeping some shelf-stable foods on hand and knowing how to request replacement benefits can make a significant difference.”
For recipients like Martha Jenkins, these preparations provide some peace of mind, though challenges remain. After learning about the replacement benefit program from a neighbor, Martha was eventually able to recoup about 80% of her lost food costs from February’s ice storm.
“I’m grateful for the help,” she says, “but I still lost several days waiting for the replacement benefits to come through. Those were hungry days. We need a faster system.”
As Martha’s experience illustrates, Oregon’s emergency food assistance programs offer essential support during weather crises, but opportunities for improvement remain. With climate scientists predicting more frequent and severe weather events in coming years, strengthening these systems isn’t just about administrative efficiency—it’s about ensuring basic human needs are met during our most vulnerable moments.
For the thousands of Oregonians who rely on SNAP benefits, knowing these safety nets exist—and understanding how to access them—could make the difference between weather-related inconvenience and genuine hunger. As communities and agencies work together to bridge existing gaps, they’re not just improving a benefits system; they’re weaving a stronger social fabric that can withstand whatever storms lie ahead.