Help For Katrina's Unemployed
Release Date: October 6, 2005
Release Number: 1604-048
» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina
JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippians and displaced evacuees temporarily residing in the state who have lost their jobs or earned income due to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina may be able to claim disaster unemployment benefits even if they are not normally eligible for state unemployment compensation.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) extends income compensation to self-employed people, farm workers, people who have worked only a few weeks, and others who have lost earned income as a result of a presidentially declared disaster.
“Replacing employment or earned income will help begin to restore the lives of those affected by Hurricane Katrina,” said Robert Latham, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. “The state is committed to working with our federal partners to provide Mississippians with the means to begin recovering.”
DUA claims can be filed with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (DES) by calling toll-free 1-888-844-3577, or visiting any open Workforce Investment Network (WIN) Job Center in the state.
Job centers are listed in local telephone directories, or can be found on the Internet from the state website www.state.ms.us/index.jsp, then the DES Web site, http://mdes.ms.gov/wps/portal/#null, and then click the link “Find a WIN Job Center.”
Applicants are required to initially provide their Social Security numbers and to follow up within 21 days of the claim with a copy of their 2004 income tax returns and other documentation showing earnings and employment before the disaster. Claims must be filed by Nov. 30, 2005.
The DUA program is administered by the state through its Department of Employment Security. While most applicants will be residents of declared disaster counties, the benefit of up to $210 a week for as long as 26 weeks is available to residents of any county if they are out of work as a direct result of the disaster. Eligibility includes those who can’t reach their jobs because the disaster prevented their travel, or who were scheduled to start work, but could not because of the disaster.
Also eligible to apply are individuals who: (1) became the major support for a household because of the disaster-related death of the head of the household; (2) cannot work because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster; (3) could not work or lost work as a result of physical damage or destruction of a business; or (4) are unable to work because the job site was closed by the federal government.
“The self-employed are among the first to feel disaster-related losses, yet they are not eligible for ordinary unemployment compensation. This program can help them recover some of their economic loss,” said Bill Carwile, Federal Coordinating Officer for disaster recovery in Mississippi.
Mississippi counties included in the presidential disaster declaration are Adams, Amite, Attala, Claiborne, Choctaw, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Wilkinson, Winston, and Yazoo.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages the federal response and recovery efforts following an incident of national significance. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities to reduce the risk of loss in future disasters, trains first responders, workers with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Thursday, 06-Oct-2005 11:44:09