Plant closing and notice period questions

I received a formal notice about a mass layoff at my workplace. It has been a long 6 weeks. I do not know if I should start looking now or wait for severance news. What did the workforce office offer?

Start your search early. I wish I had begun the day of the notice.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 8 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.