Disaster Unemployment Assistance Available For Evacuees From Alabama, Mississippi & Louisiana
Release Date: October 27, 2005
Release Number: 3229-015
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Displaced residents of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana who lost their jobs due to the recent hurricanes 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 for only a few weeks, and others who have lost earned income or whose income has been interrupted as a result of a major disaster declared by the President of the United States.
DUA is available as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to unemployed U.S. nationals and qualified aliens who worked or were self-employed if they:
- Were scheduled to begin work or self-employment in an area declared as a federal disaster area.
- Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of a disaster.
- Establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.
- Do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state.
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury or because they were incapacitated as a direct result of the disaster.
- Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of the household.
- Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government.
- Lose a majority of income or revenue because the employer or self-employed business was damaged, destroyed, or closed by the federal government. (Suffering a monetary loss due to damage of property or crops does not automatically entitle an individual to Disaster Unemployment Assistance.)
Alabama Displaced Alabama residents may file claims by calling 1-866-234-5382.
Louisiana Claims may be filed in person at any Louisiana Department of Labor One Stop or job center; online at www.LAWORKS.net; or by calling 1-800-430-8076 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CDT), Monday through Friday.
Individuals who were living or working in the following parishes have until November 30 to file for DUA: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Point Coupee, Plaquemines, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana.
Mississippi Mississippi residents may file for Disaster Unemployment Assistance by calling 1-888-844-3577 from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (CDT) Monday through Friday. They may also visit the Mississippi Department of Employment Security at www.mdes.ms.gov for a list of mobile and permanent WIN Job Centers to visit, or to print out, complete and mail an application to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, PO Box 23068, Jackson, MS 39225.
Those who were living or working in the following counties have until November 30 to file for DUA: 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 federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works 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, 09-Mar-2006 13:18:48