Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available in Texas and Louisiana.
President Bush declared major disaster areas in Texas and Louisiana because of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. As a result, Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance is now available in the declared Texas counties and Louisiana parishes.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is also available in Louisiana parishes declared as major disaster areas from damage caused by Hurricane Gustav.
If you’re an employee or self-employed individual who has become unemployed, lost income or couldn’t start a new job due to damage directly caused by Hurricane Ike, then you might be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
If you’ve become the breadwinner of your household because the previous breadwinner died as direct result of Hurricane Ike, then you too might be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
To receive Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance, among other requirements, you must be ineligible to receive standard state unemployment benefits or the recently-authorized extended unemployment benefits. If you are eligible for either benefits, then you’d collect those instead of Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
The Extended Unemployment Benefits Program is also referred to as Emergency Unemployment Compensation, but it is not the same as Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
You must apply (file a claim) to determine your final eligibility for standard or extended unemployment benefits, or Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance. To file a claim, start by visiting the Web site of the relevant state unemployment office listed below.
- Texas Unemployment Office (Texas Workforce Commission)
- Louisiana Unemployment Office (Louisiana Workforce Commission)
Alternately, you may file a claim for unemployment benefits or DUA through a local One-Stop Career Center (1-877-872-5627 or TTY: 1-877- 889-5627). “Comprehensive” Centers provide essentially the same services that unemployment offices do, such as taking claims for unemployment benefits or DUA. Call before visiting a Center to be sure that it’s open.
It’s a good idea to file your claim for DUA as soon as you can. The deadline for filing is typically only 30 days, starting on the day that DUA first became available. You’ll ordinarily have 21 days to provide supporting paperwork after filing your claim; in other words, you may file first, prove later.
Hurricane Ike Disaster Resources
Texas
- Press Release: Hurricane Ike Disaster Unemployment Assistance
- Unemployed due to Hurricane Ike?
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance Benefit Rights
- Important: Hurricane Ike Unemployment Insurance, DUA & Discrimination
- Apply for Federal Disaster Assistance (Other than DUA)
- Hurricane IKE Updates and Information
- American Red Cross
