Brandy Mann, Tyrrell County’s director of social services, said she has been told that no more SNAP (food stamp) benefits will be issued until the federal government shutdown ends.

Her comment came after clients were advised to budget their resources carefully when notified their February benefits were to be loaded to EBT cards on Jan. 20.

Business Insider is reporting that U.S. Department of Agriculture officials “could not commit to providing SNAP benefits in March and it appears unlikely that the funds will be there if the shutdown were to run that long.”

Tyrrell County has 656 participants in 356 households, or about 16% of the county’s population, Mann said Jan. 22.