(WSVN) - A few rumors are circulating that anyone who lost power during Hurricane Irma can get food stamps, but that’s not exactly true.

As of Monday, thousands of customers in South Florida remain without power and have had to throw away all of their perishable food items.

After the hurricane, rumors began circulating that Disaster SNAP benefits in Florida have been activated, allowing for anyone to claim $197 worth of benefits.

However, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families this is not true.

DCF took to Facebook to try to disprove these rumors. “There is misinformation currently circulating on social media that indicates that Disaster SNAP is available to any individual who lost power for more than two hours – this is FALSE. Additional scams and rumors may arise,” the agency wrote in a Facebook post.

Disaster SNAP does exist and is usually activated after a declared emergency and must be approved by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. However, Disaster SNAP has not yet been activated in Florida.

According to DCF’s website, activation requests are filed by the state and are based on the percentage of power outages in a county over 72 hours. Other factors include structural damage, flooding damage and retailer capability.

DCF said that while Disaster SNAP benefits have not been activated, they are communicating with the federal government in an attempt to get the program activated as soon as possible.

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