The number of Katrina victims who have filed claims for unemployment insurance has surged and appears headed higher as workers continue reporting storm-related job losses in seven states, the U.S. Labor Department reports. And the impact of Hurricane Rita is likely to dramatically boost those figures.

Landscape-related businesses have been unevenly affected by the storms. Firms that suffered damage to facilities and equipment will rely on insurance to get up and running again. Other landscape companies that came through relatively intact are playing a key role as cleanup efforts continue.

Coastal Landscape in Biloxi, Miss. is one of those firms. As Hurricane Rita affected the area on Sept. 23, crews were still scrambling to cope with downed trees brought down by Katrina. Routine maintenance was put on hold.

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A year after four major hurricanes hit Florida, contractors and landscape architects are reporting a sustained increase in rebuilding business. A similar trend is likely in the gulf states?EUR??,,????'?????<

The U.S. Labor Department has provided a combined $30.8 million in federal grants to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to expand their capacity to process jobless claims and speed the payment of unemployment benefits to hurricane victims.

The Labor Department also has extended the usual 30-day deadline for filing unemployment claims to Nov. 30 for workers left jobless by Katrina. And it has extended the deadline for providing proof of past employment and wages to 90 days from the usual 21 days after a claim is filed.

“The wider impact of Hurricane Katrina on the national economy is now becoming evident and none of it is pretty,” said Paul Ashworth, senior international economist for Capital Economics Ltd., in an analysis yesterday.

Sources: The Washington Post and landscapearchitect.com