Department of Workforce Development

Disaster Unemployment Application Deadline Approaches

MADISON - This is a reminder that workers in seven Wisconsin counties who lost jobs or wages due to summer storms and flooding must apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) by 4:30 p.m. on August 18th. Those counties include Crawford, Dane, Grant, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Vernon and Walworth. The deadline for workers in Racine, Richland and Sauk Counties is 4:30 p.m. on August 21^st. Workers in Columbia, Iowa and Waukesha Counties have until 4:30 p.m. on August 28^th to apply.

DUA is a federal program that provides financial assistance to workers, including self-employed farm and non-farm workers, who lost work and wages as a direct result of the flooding. Individuals may be eligible for DUA benefits if as a direct result of the flooding they were unable to reach their place of employment, they lost work because of an injury, or they became the major support of a household because the head of the household died as a result of the storm.

DUA benefits are based on a person’s earnings for the most recent tax year. As a result, applicants will be asked to furnish earnings data from their 1999 federal tax return when filing a claim. The DUA benefit, depending upon yearly income and loss of wages, can range from $114 to $305 per week.

Applications must be filed by telephone by calling the state Unemployment Division in Madison at (608) 232-0678, in Milwaukee at (414) 438-7700 and toll free at (800) 822-5246. A special (TTY) number for the hearing impaired is also available at (888) 393-8914.

Heavy storms rolled through Wisconsin at various times during late May through early July. The thirteen counties were all declared federal disaster areas, which makes the DUA benefits available to workers who qualify.

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