Kentuckians impacted by last month’s deadly eastern Kentucky flooding can now apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). Flood victims in counties approved for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance can apply online at the Kentucky Career Center website or by calling 502-875-0442.

Kentucky opened an in-person location Friday at Oneida Elementary School and on Saturday at the Disaster Recovery Center in the Knott County Sportsplex in Leburn. Both locations are open 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 7 p.m. Kentucky plans to open additional locations in other flood-damaged areas.

To qualify for DUA, claimants must show that the July flood interrupted their employment or self-employment. This includes people who meet the following criteria:

• Worked or were self-employed, or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment;
• Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster, which can also include being unable to get to it because the federal, state, or local government closed the location in response to the disaster;
• The work or self-employment they can no longer perform provided their primary source of income;
• Do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits;
• Cannot work or resume self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster; or
• Became the primary source of support for a household because of a death in the disaster.

Farmers and other self-employed individuals who are traditionally ineligible for UI benefits may qualify for DUA.

You can learn more at Kentucky’s flood resources website.