Tuscaloosa County, which sustained heavy damage, is second at 429 claims. Next is Marshall County at 317 and Morgan County at 315.

The workers applying for unemployment compensation so far represent about one-half of 1 percentage point of the workers in the most affected counties.

Surtees said workers laid off because businesses were destroyed or heavily damaged by the tornadoes are treated like workers who were laid off at plants that shut down or scaled back because of economic conditions.

In addition, Surtees said workers who don't normally qualify for unemployment benefits, such as the self-employed, can qualify if they are in the 42 counties declared disaster areas. These include workers who were injured and can't return to work even though their employer is open, spouses of workers killed during the storms, and those who were scheduled to start work at businesses shut down by the tornadoes. They can get up to 26 weeks of benefits.

"If you believe you are entitled to these benefits, I urge you to file a claim to see if you are eligible," Surtees said.

Claims may be filed through the Department of Industrial Relations' website (http://www.dir.alabama.gov ) or by calling 1-800-234-5382. Surtees said people filing claims will get benefits quicker if they request direct deposit to their bank accounts rather than seeking a debit card.

Hoyt Russell, the department's unemployment claims administrator, has worked for the department for 35 years, and he says this disaster covers more counties than any he can remember. He said Hurricane Frederic in 1979 and Hurricane Ivan in 2004 were considered the record setters until the tornadoes of April 27.

Surtees said the 3,055 out-of-work Alabama residents are enough to raise the state's unemployment rate by about one-tenth of a percentage point.

Alabama's unemployment rate for March was 9.2 percent. The April rate will be released May 20. He anticipates it may go up slightly because the national rate for April went up 0.2 percentage points. The May unemployment rate, which will reflect the tornado damage, will be released June 17.

Any increase due to the tornado may be tempered by jobs created by debris removal companies that are hiring. He said it's too early to estimate how many jobs that may be.

All of his department's Career Centers, where people go to find jobs, are open except the one in Hanceville. The department has a fully-equipped bus that is standing in until the regular office can reopen, he said.

The 42 counties declared disaster areas by the federal government are: Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Coosa, Cullman, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Monroe, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, and Winston.