Postal Service Resumes Service in Hurricane Ike Impacted Areas

Houston, TX —Postal Service operations have resumed throughout the Houston District. Thanks to the hard work of employees who moved quickly to protect life, secure mail and protect postal facilities, the USPS was able to quickly resume operations throughout the Houston area. Mail processing and distribution began on Sunday, the day after Ike barreled through Houston, Beaumont and surrounding areas.

Postal Service teams, comprised of Postal Inspectors and Postal Operations employees, fanned out across impacted areas and began restoring facilities and equipment on the heels of the hurricane as early as Saturday night.

“I am proud of the fact that with each major event such as Ike, our employees become more adept at staying one step ahead and managing the crisis so that life is protected and service disruption to our customers is kept at a minimum,” says Ellis Burgoyne, Southwest Area Vice President.

Post Offices in Galveston (Bob Lyons 77551) and Texas City (77590), two of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Ike, suffered damage. However, in the interest of our customers and to ensure the continuity of mail delivery and retail sales, the Postal Service has mobilized two retail service vans to be stationed at Bob Lyons Post Office and Texas City main Post Office. The mobile vans will later be replaced by semi-permanent trailers.

All Post Offices within the City of Houston are open for business today including Nassau Bay. Albert Thomas Post Office remains inaccessible due to mandatory evacuation orders. Additional updates include:

All operations in the greater Bryan area (ZIP Code area 778) are operating normally.

Post Offices and Postal Service operations in the surrounding areas outside the city of Houston (ZIP Code areas 773, 774, 775, 776, 777), encompassing the greater Houston, Beaumont, Bay City, Freeport, and Galveston areas, will resume operations, provided any mandatory evacuation order has been lifted.

Post Offices in the Victoria and Corpus Christi areas (ZIP Codes 779 and 783, respectively) are at full service and conducting business as usual.

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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.