Disaster unemployment assistance deadline extended following April storms

FRANKFORT, Ky. – On Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced a 30-day extension to the registration period for those impacted by April’s severe storms has been approved.

The governor’s office states the weather included straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides that began April 2.

The deadline has been extended until July 25, officials say, for disaster survivors in counties designated for Individual Assistance in DR-4864-KY.

Officials say Beshear’s requests for public assistance and hazard mitigation for the entire state are still under review.

Individual assistance was originally made available for residents in Anderson, Butler, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Franklin, Hardin, Hopkins, Jessamine, McCracken, Mercer, Owen and Woodford counties.

According to Beshear’s office, an amendment for disaster unemployment eligibility added Breckinridge, Bullitt, Calloway, Daviess, Garrard, Grayson, Hancock, Hart, Henderson, Henry, Jefferson, LaRue, Lincoln, McLean, Meade, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Oldham, Pendleton, Powell, Trimble, Warren and Webster counties.

Officials say individuals, including unemployed and self-employed individuals who were living or working in the affected areas and became unemployed or had work interrupted as a direct result with flooding that took place beginning April 2 and continue to be out of work, are eligible to apply for disaster unemployment assistance through the Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance.

DUA is available to individuals who:

• Worked or were self-employed, or were scheduled to begin work;
• Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to their place of employment as a direct result of a disaster, which can also include the physical inaccessibility of the place of employment due to its closure by the federal, state or local government in immediate response to the 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 work or resume self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster; or
• As a result of the disaster, became the breadwinner or major supporter of a household because of the death of the head of the household.

To learn more and file a claim, click here or call 502-564-2900.