The Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has announced that the state is now accepting Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) applications from individuals affected by the February 14 storms, floods, landslides and mudslides. This applies to people living or working in 14 counties who lost their jobs or had their work interrupted as a direct result of these severe weather events. The presidential approval of the Expedited Major Disaster Declaration on February 25 included aid for both public and private individuals in 11 counties.

Three additional counties were included on March 2nd in the amendment to the declaration, adding Estill, Johnson and Simpson counties to those eligible for individual assistance. This provides the rights to unemployed and self-employed individuals to apply for DUA benefits through the Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance.

The DUA is accessible to those who have lost their job or have had their work interrupted due to physical damage caused by a disaster, have lost their primary source of income, don’t qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits, can’t work due to an injury caused by the disaster or have become the sole earner of a household because of the disaster’s impact. The DUA is provided for 28 weeks of unemployment from February 16, 2025, to August 30, 2025, as long as the individual’s unemployment is directly related to the disaster.

If you are attempting to get through to the Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance and are finding it difficult, there are resources such as eddcaller.com which provide effective ways and methods to contact customer service. When dealing with bureaucratic systems such as unemployment insurance, it may be challenging to get hold of a live person. Eddcaller.com assists in bridging the gap between you and the department, providing information on how to reach their customer service to resolve your issues effectively and efficiently.