Roughly 5,040 people living in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes have applied for disaster unemployment assistance because of work opportunities lost or interrupted by last month’s severe flooding, according to the latest numbers provided by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The two parishes have the highest number of claims, far exceeding those filed in the other 20 parishes that were declared federal disaster areas. In East Baton Rouge, 2,844 people have applied for disaster unemployment assistance, while 2,197 people have applied in Livingston Parish as of Monday.
LWC on Tuesday extended the deadline to apply for disaster unemployment assistance to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14.
“Applications filed after the deadline will be considered untimely and DUA benefits may be denied unless the individual provides good cause for filing after that date,” the commission says.
Assistance is available for weeks of unemployment beginning Aug. 14 and ending Feb. 18, 2017, as long as the unemployment continues to be a result of the August flood.
The assistance is available for those who meet the following conditions:
- Worked or were self-employed, or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment
- Can no longer work or perform services because the disaster caused physical damage to the place of employment
- Can establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their principal source of income
- Do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits from any state
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster
- Became the breadwinner or major supporter of a household because of the death of the head of household
