In preparation for the 2025 hurricane season, you might be packing a go-kit or hardening your home against potential physical damages.
But you should also prepare for the financial damages a storm can bring.
In many cases, people lose out on days or weeks of work following a major hurricane. That can reduce a household’s monthly income, adding to the financial stress of hurricane recovery.
ALSO READ: A Dade City citrus worker lost a week of paid work to the hurricanes. Now she’s feeling it
To recoup those losses, Floridians can apply for disaster unemployment assistance following a major hurricane in their region.
WUSF’s Gabriella Paul spoke with Florida Department of Commerce assistant deputy secretary Wendy Castle about how to apply for the benefits.
What is the difference between Florida’s regular reemployment assistance and disaster unemployment assistance?
So, reemployment assistance, which the Feds refer to as unemployment assistance…[are] temporary benefits that are offered to Floridians that are temporarily out of work while they are trying to find work and get back into the workforce.
We also have disaster unemployment assistance. The purpose… is to provide the temporary financial assistance and benefits to individuals who have lost employment [or] self-employment due to a major disaster that has been declared.
Can you describe the process of applying for disaster unemployment assistance?
Absolutely. So, with disaster unemployment assistance, individuals…can apply for assistance once a major disaster is declared [in your county] by the President and FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency].
Individuals first have to apply for reemployment assistance. And then, once they exhaust the reemployment benefits, then they can move and apply for [disaster unemployment assistance]…
Individuals can go to our website Floridajobs.org where they can go on the portal and apply for reemployment and disaster unemployment assistance, and they can do that from their computer [or] from a mobile device.
Also, we respond to disasters…we do have people out in the field, that are at recovery center [where you] can go and get assistance in applying. Individuals can [also] call directly to an agent if they are having difficulties.
What information do you need to apply for disaster unemployment assistance?
With an application, they definitely need to have: social security number, their name and address of the employer that they worked for in the impacted areas, or [proof] of their self-employment.
Links, resources for disaster unemployment assistance:
- Floridajobs.org
- Phone number for disaster unemployment claims: 1-833-FL-APPLY, or 1-833-352-7759
- FEMA disaster unemployment fact sheet
