Orange County residents who lost their jobs as a direct result of Hurricane Ida have until Tuesday, Jan. 4, to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
This assistance provides temporary benefits to individuals whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a direct result of a major disaster. To be considered, applicants must live or work in Orange County and must be ineligible for other kinds of unemployment assistance.
The Disaster Unemployment Assistance program is administered by the New York State Department of Labor, and benefits supplement New York’s existing unemployment insurance and expands eligibility to include individuals who might not otherwise be covered. The U.S. Department of Labor oversees the program and coordinates with FEMA.
To apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance, call the New York State Department of Labor at 866-642-7227. Before making the call, be prepared to provide details about when, where and how you lost your employment as a direct result of Hurricane Ida.
For more information, see the state Labor Department’s fact sheet at p845-dua-factsheet-10-20-21.pdf.
For referrals to agencies that support community-specific needs, call 211 or visit 211nys.org/contact-us. This contact center provides free and confidential health and human services information. Multilingual specialists can identify service needs and connect survivors to local chapters of nonprofit agencies.
Because Orange County was a late addition to the federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Ida in New York, residents have until Jan. 31 to apply for FEMA disaster assistance. Those who have already applied need not apply again.
To apply for FEMA assistance, visit DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA mobile app or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. If you use video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. Helpline operators are available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Press 2 for Spanish. Press 3 for an interpreter who speaks your language.
For official information on New York’s recovery effort, visit fema.gov/disaster/4615. Follow FEMA on Twitter at twitter.com/femaregion2 and at facebook.com/fema.