Last week to apply for flood-related unemployment benefits - Jan. 8, 2007

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Media contact: Hilary Young, 360-902-9454

Audio: http://fortress.wa.gov/esd/portal/info/newsroom/audiofiles/audio/

OLYMPIA – People who are out of work due to the flooding that struck Washington between Nov. 2 and Nov. 11 have just one week left to apply for unemployment benefits.

The Employment Security Department is accepting applications through Jan. 16 from workers who lost their jobs, cannot get to work or were injured due to severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Lewis, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties. The application deadline originally was Jan. 13, but has been extended because the date falls on a holiday weekend.

Applications are available online at www.wa.gov/esd/ui/dua.htm, by e-mail at dua@esd.wa.gov, over the phone at 877-416-7274 (toll-free) or in person at local WorkSource centers. 

Self-employed individuals also are eligible for disaster unemployment assistance if they are unemployed as a direct result of the November storms. They must submit a copy of their 2005 tax year return or documentation showing their net earnings from tax year 2005 with their application.