Figueroa was among tens of thousands of people — 50,000 people showed up at just Tropical Park alone — over the last few days who camped out in snarling lines, braved the heat and in some cases, left empty-handed, after state officials closed food assistance centers.

The makeshift facilities were propped up to provide benefits for those who do not qualify for regular food stamps, but suffered a disaster-related loss because of Hurricane Irma.

The overwhelming response forced DCF to shut down several centers after law enforcement workers raised concerns about people suffering heat exhaustion and losing their tempers. The closures, however, left thousands in the lurch — angry, confused and wondering why DCF didn’t have a better system.

Police had to shut down food assistance centers in Broward Saturday after various people waiting in snarling lines suffered heat exhaustion, officials said. They will remain closed on Sunday.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office would not immediately disclose which centers were closed off to those arriving Saturday afternoon, but did say police had to break-up arguments caused by frustrated participants, as well as help alleviate gridlocked streets. Those who were overwhelmed by the heat were given medical attention.

In recent weeks, the Department of Children and Families opened up several food assistance centers in South Florida after the state activated its Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also called D-SNAP.

Thousands of Duval and Nassau county residents who had Hurricane Irma-related losses waited for hours in long lines under a hot sun Wednesday to get food reimbursement benefits.

Some of them arrived at Regency Square mall in Arlington as early as 3 a.m., although the Food for Florida Disaster Food Assistance Program offices did not open until 7 a.m. Some of them mistakenly thought they were going to get actual food, rather than an Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, card to use at stores. Many of them did not realize they could have come another day and not waited so long. Day 1 also was meant for people whose last names began with the letter A through D, but organizers didn’t turn people away who were already there early.

By 9:30 a.m. the lines snaked up and down the parking lot outside the food court and around Dillard’s. People swapped Irma stories, complained about the heat and drank up free bottles of water. By 11 a.m. organizers were spreading the word for anyone who was not already in line to not show up that day.

Brenda Clarke, 70, said she arrived with her daughter Verna, 37, and granddaughter Kierra, 19, around 7:15 a.m. to stand in line at Tropical Park, though they did not receive their EBT card until more than three hours later. Their Coconut Grove home lost power for 10 days, ruining the ribs, steak, pork chops, eggs and milk they had stocked up on before the storm, and the Clarke women were impatient to replenish their supply.

The line they waited in eventually snaked across the parking lot three times over, even though some people ahead of them left when rain drenched the crowd.

“They were not organized,” Clarke’s daughter Verna said.