Department of Veterans Affairs October 24, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina came through the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. As a result, operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Offices in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Jackson, Mississippi, were interrupted. Additionally, postal services in the affected regions have been interrupted. As a result of the interruptions, correspondence containing claims, information, or evidence sent to the affected VA Regional Offices is likely to be interrupted. VA wishes to protect the claimants who send correspondence to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) through the normal channels of communication from being deprived of benefits solely because those channels of communication have been disrupted due to events outside of the claimants' control. Therefore, VA is instituting procedures to consider alternative dates as the date of receipt of correspondence.