The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced the availability of Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) for seven Tennessee counties affected by the severe storms and tornadoes.
On December 9, severe thunderstorms and a recorded eight tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee, causing six fatalities, dozens of injuries, significant damage to nearly 1,900 homes, and the destruction of over 500 homes.
President Joe Biden approved Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s disaster declaration on December 13, granting his request for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance for Davidson, Dickson, Montgomery, and Sumner counties, along with Hazard Mitigation statewide to help Tennesseans recover and rebuild from the severe storms.
Cheatham, Gibson, and Stewart counties were added to the disaster declaration on Thursday.
Cheatham, Gibson and Stewart counties have been added to the Major Disaster Declaration for FEMA's Individual Assistance. For more information, please visit: https://t.co/fLx2hBtvgU
— Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) (@TennesseeEMA) December 28, 2023
TDLWD is accepting applications for DUA from individuals whose employment or self-employment was impacted by the severe storms and tornadoes in the seven counties.
DUA is an unemployment insurance benefit made available after a disaster.
Individuals who live in, work in, or travel through Davidson, Dickson, Montgomery, and Sumner counties must submit an application to receive DUA benefits by January 16, 2024.
For those who live in, work in, or travel through Cheatham, Gibson, and Stewart counties, applications must be submitted by January 29, 2024, to receive DUA benefits.
Meanwhile, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is urging Tennessee businesses that suffered damages during the severe storms and tornadoes to apply for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster relief loans as soon as possible.
FEMA is accepting loan applications for physical property damage until February 12, 2024 and loan applications for economic injury applications until September 13, 2024.
For more information on how to qualify and apply for DUA benefits, visit https://www.tn.gov/workforce/general-resources/news/2023/12/28/disaster-unemployment-assistance-available-in-additional-counties.html.
For more information on SBA loans, visit https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20231227/its-important-submit-sba-disaster-loan-application.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Tennessee Tornado Damage” by American Red Cross of Tennessee.
