Drone photos have captured nearly 12,000 cars lining up for emergency food aid from before dawn today in San Antonio, Texas - nearly 2,000 more than the week before. 

A photograph taken from a drone of the packed parking lot fully captured just how many people are in now in need of assistance when it comes to simply eating.  

The sheer scale of the problem mirrors what the country saw in the nation's jobless figures this week with more than 20 million Americans now unemployed - virtually all of them laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The San Antonio Food Bank runs a massive 200,000sq warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

It has been stocked full of fruit including apples, oranges and watermelons along with a host of vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes and onions and protein including chicken, ground beef and tater tots. 

'We stock refrigerated, frozen and nonperishable food items so it moves through our facility at a fairly rapid pace,' said food bank CEO Eric Cooper to NPR. 'Obviously, now in the midst of COVID-19, the demand far outpaces the supply.'

In a normal week, the food bank would be providing supplies for 500 food pantries across South Texas feeding around 60,000 people - but that number has now doubled.