Apply by Monday for area disaster unemployment

Benefits for eligible applicants available for up to 29 weeks.

If you lost work due to the Memorial Day tornadoes, the deadline to apply for disaster unemployment assistance is Monday.

Individuals who became unemployed as a direct result of the storms but who are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits may qualify. This includes self-employed workers, farmers and anyone who was prevented from starting employment or self-employment because of the storms in Auglaize, Darke, Greene, Hocking, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Muskingum, Perry, and Pickaway counties.

Benefits may be available for up to 29 weeks beginning the first full week after the storms. Those interested in applying should call 1-877-644-6562 toll-free.

Mahoning County was later added to the federal disaster declaration, where those affected have until Aug. 5 to apply.

To be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits under Presidential Disaster Declaration FEMA-4447-DR, individuals:

■ Must be an unemployed or self-unemployed worker whose unemployment was caused as

a direct result of the major disaster declared by the President;

■ Must be a U.S. national or a qualified alien; and

■ Must not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state; and

■ Must have worked or were self-employed in, or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment in, one of the counties listed above; and

■ Must establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.

Also eligible to apply are individuals who:

■ Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of a disaster; or

■ Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster; or

■ Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of the household; or,

■ Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and administered by Ohio Department of Job and Family Services with guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.

TY GREENLEES / STAFF Resources are coming available for people traumatized in the wake of the May 27 tornado that struck Beavercreek. Also, the health department is advising inspectors finished a flurry of restaurant inspections. Those that don’t have damage requiring code compliance have passed inspections and are open.