Newly jobless storm survivors would exhaust aid sooner without this federal backstop

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — As the lead organizer of Asheville Food and Beverage United in North Carolina, Jen Hampton is grateful that the union’s members who lost their jobs after Hurricane Helene can apply for federal disaster unemployment assistance, which lasts for as long as six months.

Currently, the jobless in North Carolina can only receive up to 12 weeks of state unemployment benefits, among the skimpiest in the nation. Having up to 14 more weeks of federal payments is “vital” to helping Asheville’s laid-off hospitality workers ride out the slow winter period, Hampton said. She hopes the city’s remaining restaurants, bars and breweries will be back in business before the tourist season begins next year.

“People have got to be supported through this recovery process because we’re not going to be fully reopened for a while,” said Hampton, who estimates that three quarters of the city’s food and beverage workers lost their jobs. “We’re not going to be back to a place of people being able to have stable, secure jobs until probably March of next year because that’s when things start to pick up again.”

Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance, or DUA, is one of the backbones of the nation’s aid package to survivors of hurricanes, fires and other calamities. It provides as many as 26 weeks of benefits — which is the standard for most state unemployment insurance programs — to those who lost their jobs, were injured or can’t reach their workplaces as a direct result of a disaster. (Applicants must first exhaust their state unemployment benefits.)

In hurricane-hit states like North Carolina, as well as Florida and Georgia, the federal assistance gives survivors more time to regain employment than their state programs would. Florida provides benefits for up to 12 weeks and Georgia for as many as 14 weeks.

Plus, disaster jobless benefits are available to many types of workers who don’t qualify for state unemployment insurance, such as gig workers, farmers and the self-employed.

“Significantly more people will be eligible for DUA than we might realize because they are independent workers or have their own businesses,” Michele Evermore, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said.

About 30,500 initial jobless claims were filed in North Carolina in the nearly three weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the western part of the state in late September, according to the state’s Division of Employment Security. That’s a big jump from the roughly 3,400 claims filed, on average, in 2024.

Roughly 19,200 of them were related to the disaster and, as of October 17, more than $1.6 million in such benefits has been paid.

More than 5,600 of the disaster claims are for the federal unemployment assistance, which, if approved, will provide a safety net for folks who wouldn’t otherwise receive state benefits.

In a step to further help jobless hurricane survivors, Gov. Roy Cooper recently signed an executive order increasing the weekly benefit by $250, to a maximum of $600, until North Carolina’s state of emergency ends. Normally, the top benefit amount is $350 a week, among the lowest in the nation, Cooper’s office said in a statement.

Still, it can be difficult for the newly jobless to secure either state or disaster unemployment benefits, particularly those whose homes and businesses have been heavily damaged or destroyed by storms. They may not have the records they need, or they might have to deal with spotty internet service. Also, the crush of people filing claims can temporarily overwhelm state systems, making it harder to submit their applications or get a response.

It took Miranda Escalante five days to apply for unemployment assistance. She worked as a bartender at the boutique Flat Iron Hotel in downtown Asheville, until Hurricane Helene hit. She lost internet service at home, and when she went elsewhere to try to connect, she found the state’s Division of Employment Security website loaded slowly and was difficult to navigate. She tried to call, but was told the wait time was three hours. Finally, she drove with her laptop to a neighbor who had a satellite internet system, and applied from her car.

Escalante and her husband, Alex Smith, who was a server at an Asheville restaurant, are still waiting for their applications to be approved — like most people they know. Until then, they are living off their last paychecks and some other Federal Emergency Management Agency aid, as well as visiting places offering free meals.

A 20-year resident of Asheville, Escalante said she can’t imagine living anywhere else. The unemployment benefits would give the couple more time to see if they can get their jobs back.

“If we do get approved for the disaster unemployment, we’ll be able to stick it out for a little bit with what little savings we have,” Escalante, 38, said.

Recognizing that people in disaster-declared areas may not have internet access, the Division of Employment Security established a dedicated Disaster Unemployment Assistance hotline within 24 hours, available in English and Spanish with extended hours throughout the weekend, the agency said in a statement to CNN. Wait times average 15 minutes or less.

“People are filing claims daily, and those are being processed as quickly as possible while also ensuring that DES adheres to the eligibility review process required by law,” the agency said.

Cutting state benefits

Until 2009, every state provided people who lost their jobs with up to 26 weeks of regular state benefits at the very least, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

But after the spike in layoffs during the Great Recession, several states opted to replenish their unemployment trust funds by reducing benefits instead of hiking taxes on employers, Evermore said. More states took this step in recent years in the wake of the economic upheaval spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, 13 states provide fewer than 26 weeks of payments, with maximum durations ranging from 12 weeks to 21 weeks, according to the center. Some states add weeks if their unemployment rates rise.

In North Carolina, for instance, payments last as long as 12 weeks when the unemployment rate is below 5.5%. But if it hits 9%, the jobless can collect benefits for up to 20 weeks. The rate was 3.8% in August, according to the latest data available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When — and if — Asheville’s once-thriving hospitality industry can get back on its feet remains to be seen. Many restaurants and breweries were wiped away by the hurricane, Hampton said. Three weeks later, the city still doesn’t have drinkable water, hindering the remaining eateries’ ability to fully reopen.

What’s more, October is the peak season for tourists, who come to see the leaves change color — but not this year, of course. Many establishments depend on the revenue they make during this period to get them through the slower winter months, Escalante said.

“Asheville is very special because we have so many independent restaurants,” she said. “I don’t know which restaurants will be back.”

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