BATON ROUGE - The state extended hours during which those impacted by Hurricane Ida can call in to apply for disaster food assistance on Friday and Saturday. 

The hotline for applying for Disaster SNAP benefits has been plagued by long waits and hang-ups since it launched earlier this week as thousands of storm victims spread across 25 parishes began calling in. The state has designated certain day for victims based on their parishes and the first letter of their names.

Click here to find out when and how to call

"Residents from the Phase 1 parishes were directed to call according to an alphabet schedule based on their last name," the department said in a statement Thursday. "However, during the first two days of the DSNAP application period, an overwhelming number of calls bogged down phone lines leading to dropped calls or long wait times. At times, the DSNAP line received as many as 350 calls per second."

The state will be accepting calls from residents in East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes on Friday and Saturday. The line will stay open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

On Monday, phase 2 begins. It will serve Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Jefferson, Livingston, Plaquemines, St. Helena, St Martin (only lower St. Martin parish ZIP codes 70339 and 70380), St. Mary and Tangipahoa parishes. Residents must call on the day specified by the first letter of your last name. you can find more information here.