Some TSP services suspended due to Hurricane Ivan

The National Finance Center was evacuated this week -- forcing the suspension of many Thrift Savings Plan services -- but Hurricane Ivan changed course at the last minute, avoiding a direct hit on New Orleans and sparing the finance center substantial damage, officials said Thursday.

The NFC is run by the Agriculture Department, but it performs administrative functions for several other government agencies, including the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. The Thrift plan, which operates as a 401(k)-style retirement resource for federal employees, has more than 3.2 million participants and $135 billion in assets.

Anticipating heavy damage from Hurricane Ivan, officials at the NFC originally made plans to establish a backup center in Philadelphia. The storm veered away from New Orleans, however, and made landfall near Mobile, Ala. The hurricane's winds, which peaked upwards of 150 mph, had slowed by the time storm hit land, but more than 10 people are believed dead and extensive damage and flooding has been reported.

NFC personnel were planning to return to the finance center Thursday afternoon to see how long it will take to get the facility up and running again. It was not immediately clear when normal activities would be resumed.

When that happens, however, Thrift Savings Plan accounts will be brought up to date, according to Tom Trabucco, a TSP spokesman.

"We will not be processing loans, withdrawals or interfund transfers until the system is back up," he said. "At that point we will run through each day's operations. It will all be done in sequence at the appropriate share price for the day so participants' accounts will be where they would have been."

Some TSP transfers that came in on Tuesday before the deadline have not yet been processed. They will be processed with the prices for Tuesday night in place. Trabucco said that for TSP participants the storm will mostly be a "nonevent."

While the finance center is shut down, all TSP calls are being handled by the recently established parallel call center in Maryland. Trabucco said the new center was set up in a different geographical area expressly for situations like Hurricane Ivan. Workers at the parallel call center are not able to access accounts -- because the center in New Orleans is closed-but they can answer more general questions and explain the developing situation. TSP officials said it was important to have someone to answer the phones, instead of a busy signal or no answer at all.