DAYTONA BEACH -- A waitress, a hair stylist and a truck driver. What do they have in common? They all lost their jobs courtesy of Hurricane Frances.
The natural disaster upended the lives of Coletta Washington, Juanita Shaner and Darryl Baker. Their stories will sound very familiar to the more than 3,400 Volusia and Flagler county residents who have filed for disaster unemployment assistance following hurricanes Charley and Frances.
So far, the impact from Hurricane Jeanne appears to be minimal. No workers from Volusia or Flagler counties had applied for unemployment disaster assistance because of Jeanne as of noon Tuesday. But residents have until Oct. 27 to apply for the federal aid.
Hurricane victims are eligible if the county where they work was affected by the disaster. While Hurricane Ivan spared the East Coast, the jobs of 55 Volusia residents and three Flagler residents were still affected by the storm, according to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Darryl Baker drove a refrigeration truck that delivered foliage from South Florida. While he worked outside Volusia County, the Holly Hill resident was forced to give up his job during Hurricane Frances.
His employer would not give him the time he needed to board up his house and take care of his family, Baker said. Drivers are expected to be on the road for two weeks at a time.
His dispatcher told him, "Sorry, we can't give you that much time."
Baker is looking for local employment and dealing with the frustration of unemployment. He went to the One-Stop Career Center to file online for disaster relief. While the jobs center is not an unemployment office, it makes computers available to job seekers and the unemployed.
Baker tried filing for disaster assistance by phone, but the automated system drove him nuts. "It's long periods of waiting until you hang up," he said. "You don't know if someone is (at the other end of the line) or not."
Because of the post-hurricane stress, customer traffic at the One-Stop Career Centers jumped from 4,245 in July to 6,464 in August. The numbers for September are expected to be similar or more than August.
Hurricane victims often wait a week to file for disaster unemployment because they usually need to take care of their most basic needs first, said Warren May, a spokesman for the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Like regular unemployment, disaster unemployment assistance pays a percentage of a worker's former income. The minimum is $50 per week and the maximum is $275 per week. The average is $224, state officials said.
Washington, a former server at Crabby Joe's Restaurant and Grill in Daytona Beach Shores, said most people she knows are frustrated by the application process for disaster relief.
"It's the waiting," she said. "In the process (of waiting), you need to be looking for another job."
Washington was notified on Thursday she was approved for disaster unemployment assistance because her employer was closed during Hurricane Frances. She continued to work after the storm but was finally let go a week ago. Business was too slow.
"I was considered nonessential even though I was the entertainment," Washington joked, referring to her animated demeanor. "It's quiet there without me."
Besides serving dinner, she sold fishing passes to the Sunglow Pier. It was fun work while it lasted. "I loved the beach; working on the pier was way cool," she said.
Washington, 32, moved here a year ago to escape the cold winters of Central Pennsylvania. Now she is thinking about moving on to Tampa for a better job market.
"I realize we live in a destitute area," Washington said. "It's even worse now that a hurricane has hit."
Juanita Shaner just wants her life in Holly Hill to return to normal. She evacuated during Hurricane Frances but did not have a job when she returned a week later. She was a hair stylist at the Hair Cuttery in DeLand for four years.
Because Shaner lives in Holly Hill, she normally had a problem getting to work on time, she said. She was warned she would lose her job if she was ever late again.
Shaner was not at work when the Hair Cuttery opened on the Tuesday following the Labor Day Weekend. She claims her employer would not give her enough time to make a safe journey home from Georgia.
"I tried to explain, but they didn't want to hear that," she said.
Mimi Ackers, a spokeswoman for Hair Cuttery, said Shaner was not terminated because of the storm. "It was performance issues," Ackers said.
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