NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans announced on Monday that Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available to certain workers in Orleans Parish who lost income as a direct result of Hurricane Zeta.
The purpose of DUA is to help workers whose primary incomes are lost or interrupted by a federally declared disaster. DUA may be available if the disaster affected employment — even if one is self-employed, a farmer or a farm worker — and falls under one of the following categories:
- Your workplace was damaged or destroyed by the disaster
- Transportation to work was unavailable as a direct result of the disaster
- You could not get to your job because you had to travel through the disaster area
- The disaster prevented you from starting a new job
- Your business suffered because you relied on the disaster area for most of its income
- You cannot work due to an injury caused as a direct result of the major disaster
- You became the breadwinner or major household support because the head of your household died as a direct result of the disaster
- You became unemployed as a direct result of the disaster
Affected workers must first apply for regular unemployment insurance prior to starting a DUA application. Apply by visiting www.laworks.net, the Helping Individuals Reach Employment portal. Apply for disaster unemployment assistance by Feb. 12.
Claimants may also file by telephone by calling the Benefits Analysis Team at 866-783-5567 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
For the latest information on Hurricane Zeta, visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4577. Follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6.