Prepared by Public Affairs 312-751-4777

The Railroad Retirement Board's district office in New Orleans is closed due to Hurricane Katrina. Work performed by this office has been diverted to other RRB offices. The addresses and phone numbers of offices closest to the areas affected by the hurricane are:

Houston, Texas - 1919 Smith, Suite 845, 77002-8051, (713) 209-3045

Little Rock, Arkansas - 1200 Cherry Brook Drive, Suite 500, 72211-4113, (501) 324-5241

Fort Worth, Texas - 819 Taylor Street, Room 10G02, P.O. Box 17420, 76102-0420, (817) 978-2638

Birmingham, Alabama - Medical Forum Building, 950 22nd St. North, Suite 426, 35203-1134, (205) 731-0019

Jacksonville, Florida - 550 Water Street, Suite 330, 32202-5177, (904) 232-2546

As soon as the local telephone company can perform the necessary programming, calls made to the New Orleans office telephone number will automatically be transferred to the Little Rock office.

Most beneficiaries on Direct Deposit should be able to access their funds. However, checks for retirement, survivor, unemployment and sickness benefits cannot presently be delivered by the Postal Service to the affected areas. In order to expedite receipt of payments, the RRB will, upon contact by any individual due payment, request the Treasury Department to reissue these payments to a new address provided by the affected party. The RRB also has information about some temporary locations where checks can be picked up.

The RRB is providing information on its Web site (www.rrb.gov), through its toll-free Help Line number (1-800-808-0772) and through public service announcements regarding actions that can be taken to obtain needed services. In addition, persons can go to the U.S. Postal Service's Web site (www.usps.com) and click on the Hurricane Katrina Service Updates button to see the latest information on delivery to affected areas.

There are about 24,000 railroad retirement beneficiaries and about 9,000 active railroad workers residing in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

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