Disaster Unemployment Assistance Deadline Extended 

Release Date: November 17, 2005
Release Number: 1605-109

» More Information on Alabama Hurricane Katrina

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Alabama Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have announced that the deadline for filing for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) claims has been extended to November 30th.

Persons living or working in the disaster-declared counties who became unemployed, or could not engage in their customary self-employment as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina are eligible for DUA. The declared counties are: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Mobile, Pickens, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, and Washington. Those individuals who are eligible are encouraged to file a claim as soon as possible. Claims are filed through the Department of Industrial Relations, and funding is provided by FEMA.

Claims for state unemployment compensation benefits may be filed by calling the Department of Industrial Relations at 866-234-5382 or 800-499-2035 for the speech or hearing-impaired. Generally, persons who are eligible for regular unemployment compensation benefits are not eligible for DUA, but the claimant may qualify for DUA if state unemployment compensation benefits are exhausted. Self-employed individuals will be requested to provide a copy of their 2004 income tax records. Louisiana and Mississippi Hurricane Katrina evacuees residing in Alabama may also use this same number to file a claim against wages from their state. Alabama will send that information electronically back to the state of origin.

More information on DUA is available at: http://dir.alabama.gov/.

As of November 10, 846 DUA claims have been approved, resulting in over $390,000 disbursed.

Individuals who need to register for disaster assistance or those wishing to check the status of their application may call FEMA at 800-621-FEMA (3362) or, TTY 800-462-7585 for the speech or hearing-impaired, or go online at http://www.fema.gov.

Last Modified: Thursday, 17-Nov-2005 13:28:57