BATON ROUGE -The restoration of power and networking services to the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) is enabling the agency to process unemployment benefit payments today for the first time since Hurricane Gustav struck last week.
People who submitted continuing claims before the storm will be paid by Thursday or Friday. They do not need to call to check on the status of those claims. They will be processed automatically.
People who submit continuing claims today to cover their unemployment last week also will be paid by Thursday or Friday. These people should file their continuing claims by using the LWC Easy Call system. The system has the capacity to handle the high volume of calls expected during the hurricane recovery period.
Everyone who is already receiving unemployment benefits also has received instructions for using this system, along with a list of 35 or so Easy Call phone numbers. People using the system can dial any of the Easy Call numbers in the state, but a local phone number is available for the vast majority of residents.
Effective Monday, Sept. 8, people will be able to file continued claims and new claims online at www.laworks.net. People who file over the Web can avoid any delays associated with high volumes of calls to the LWC's toll-free line.
LWC urges everyone with continued claims to use the Easy Call system or the Web. This will relieve much of the pressure on the call center and should greatly reduce hold times and the number of people who are getting busy signals when they call to file new claims.
We urge everyone who is trying to file a new claim for unemployment benefits to be patient until the high call volume subsides. These people should note that their payments will not be significantly delayed by the difficulties in getting through to the call center. The earliest week for which they can be compensated is the week ending Sept. 13, and their payments will begin in early October. This schedule is the same as it would have been without the disruption caused by Hurricane Gustav.
LWC has taken extraordinary steps to work around that disruption, including greatly increasing its call center capacity and extending its hours. Those measures began before the storm and will continue until normal service levels are restored. By later today, our call center capacity will be nearly five times its usual level and by late Tuesday it should be about 10 times its usual level.
The call center's toll-free number is 1-866-783-5567. It is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily until normal service is restored. Business and Career Solution Centers around the state also can help people file claims.
For the latest information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or call the state's emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.
In addition, the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) has activated four mobile units in south Louisiana to take new Unemployment Insurance claims and provide job search and placement services. The units are equipped with banks of computers connected by satellite to the LWC's computer systems.
Today, mobile units are located in:
Baton Rouge - 1991 Wooddale Blvd.
Houma - 807 Barrow St.
Gonzales - 1721 South Burnside Ave.
Gretna on the West Bank - 1900 Lafayette St.
The units will remain at these locations as long as the need for mobile services exists in these areas. It is anticipated that as electricity and Internet connections are restored in these areas, the mobile units will move to areas where these services are still unavailable.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is available to Louisiana residents in the following areas affected by Hurricane Gustav: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, West Baton Rouge and West.
The deadline for people in these 36 parishes to file DUA applications is Oct. 6, 2008. DUA is available for weeks of unemployment beginning Sept. 7, 2008, through March 7, 2009, as long as the claimant's unemployment continues to be a result of the disaster.
Those filing new DUA claims can also call 1-866-783-5567. The call center is available from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., seven days a week.
Business and Career Solution Centers in the disaster area that have electricity and Internet service will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week to assist with claims and other services for job seekers and businesses. Centers in other parts of the state will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For the latest information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or call the state's emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.
Gustav Deaths
Please find the attached memo sent from Louisiana Chief Medical Officer Louis Cataldie, M.D., regarding fatalities related to Hurricane Gustav:
From: Louis Cataldie, M.D.
To: Secretary Alan Levine
Date: September 8, 2008
Re: Fatalities Related to Hurricane Gustav
This memorandum delineates the current number of confirmed hurricane-related fatalities. As Chief Medical Officer for the state of Louisiana, I am working closely with local coroners and police departments to identify fatalities as a result of Hurricane Gustav and offering assistance to local authorities.
In addition to the 24 fatalities related to Gustav confirmed as of Sunday, Sept. 7, one additional fatality was confirmed today, bringing the total fatalities related to Hurricane Gustav to 25.
The fatality confirmed today was the death of a St. Charles Parish resident who died of natural causes.
Any de! ath that is determined by the jurisdictional coroner to have been caused as a result of Hurricane Gustav will be counted as a storm-related death. General criteria for classifying a death as hurricane-related include:
- Death due to activities associated with evacuation (i.e., evacuation stress precipitates a heart attack)
- Death due to the effects of the storm itself (i.e., a tree falls on a person during the storm)
- Death associated with recovery efforts (i.e., a person is electrocuted by a fallen electrical line while cleaning up fallen tree limbs)
I will continue to notify you at the end of each day of newly-confirmed deaths related to Hurricane Gustav.
For the latest information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or call the state's emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.
