WICHITA — State welfare officials have opened two emergency offices in the Wichita area to help food stamp beneficiaries replace food lost during last weekend's severe weather this weekend, officials from Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services announced today.

People enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who lost their food due to tornado activity or power outages following the storms may apply for up to one month of replacement SNAP benefits, according to officials at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

The emergency assistance is available at these locations:

• From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Oaklawn Community Center (map).

• From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Derby Recreation Center (map).

The emergency offices will be open at least through Wednesday, SRS officials said.

Beneficiaries who also lost their Vision cards in the storm must first get a replacement card from the SRS Wichita Regional Office (map) or by calling 1-800-977-6666.

“We are moving as quickly as possible to help those who were affected by the violent storms Saturday,” said SRS Secretary Phyllis Gilmore. ”We are doing what we can to help these families, and, thankfully, most of those we are seeing still have shelter. They’ve just lost their food supplies.”