Postal Service prepares for Edouard

Houston, TX —The Postal Service is preparing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Edouard by advising customers that normal service operations in the path of the storm may be impacted in the event of unsafe conditions such as high winds, flooding, or impassable roads.

Depending on local conditions, some post offices may close their lobbies on August 5 as Edouard makes landfall. If roads become impassable or unsafe for travel, mail delivery services may be curtailed, and mail collection schedules from mailboxes could be suspended. The situation will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and any deviation from normal service would be resumed as soon as safely possible.

“We’re advising our employees to obey any mandatory evacuation orders, and to protect themselves and their family members if unsafe conditions are present or an emergency develops,” said Kelvin Williams, Houston District Manager of Customer Service and Sales. “The safety and well-being of our employees and customers is our number one priority.”

Postal Service employees throughout the Galveston-Houston area are working today to secure the mail, postal facilities and equipment in advance of the arrival of Tropical Storm Edouard.

The Postal Service will make plans to suspend services in the event a mandatory evacuation order is issued by local, state, or federal emergency management officials. Customer service operations in any area covered by a mandatory evacuation order would be suspended, including mail processing, mail delivery, scheduled collection of mail from mailboxes, bulk mail acceptance, post office box service and retail post office lobby services. Drop shipment appointments would also be suspended at closed facilities.

For the latest information on USPS service updates, check: http://www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm.

Postal Service employees in the area are being advised to check for changes to their scheduled work reporting status by contacting the USPS National Emergency Notification Hotline to determine if any special instructions have been issued. The toll-free USPS National Emergency Notification Hotline for U.S. Postal Service employees is: 1-888-363-7462.

Additional information regarding postal operations within specific ZIP Code areas will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service as necessary.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.