Post Offices in Houston Expand Retail, Delivery Services

Services at Post Offices in Greater Houston Area Positioned for Recovery

Houston, TX — Post Offices in the city of Houston have all reopened, with the exception of Oak Forest Station, where contractors are working to remediate water intrusion inside the facility. A mobile retail van is in place at Oak Forest Station (77018, 77092) to provide temporary retail services for customers in the local community. Retail services and mail deliveries continue to expand as most employees report to work after evacuating the area. Limited retail services such as stamp sales are being provided by employees at all Houston Post Offices today. A total of seven Post Offices in the city are operating on full electrical power, while others are operating with portable power generators.

Mail delivery and mail collection continues to expand in the city, except in areas deemed inaccessible due to the presence of road debris and localized flooding.

Mail processing operations are at near-normal levels at both the Houston and North Houston mail processing centers, and mail-hauling trucks are dispatching mail into and out of Post Offices throughout the area today. The Bryan and Beaumont mail processing facilities are also operating normally. More than 150 portable generators have been deployed to Post Offices in the area, and contractors have begun work to restore damaged facilities.

In Beaumont, the Main Post Office (77707), South End Station (77701,77702, 77705), and Tobe Hahn Station (77703, 77706, 77708, 77713) are operating on auxiliary power and providing limited retail, and delivery service, while Lumberton Station (77657) is operating normally. Due to closure of the Jack Brooks Federal Building, Post Office Box customers served through the Downtown Branch Post Office can collect their mail at the Post Office Box door at the Beaumont Main Post Office at 5815 Walden Road.

Post Offices located outside the city encompassing the greater Houston, Beaumont and Galveston areas (ZIP Code areas 773, 774, 775, 776, 777), have also reopened, with Orange (77630 ), Seabrook (77586) and Galveston’s Main Post Office (77550) and Bob Lyons Station (77551) closed due to facility damage or inaccessibility. A mobile retail van is in place at the Texas City Post Office (77590, 77591), due to facility damage, and additional mobile units will be deployed as needed.

Post Offices in smaller communities in the area are making similar efforts today to provide retail, delivery, and mail collection services. Due to serious facility damage, mail for Post Office Box customers served at the Port Bolivar (77560), Crystal Beach (77650), and High Island (77623) Post Offices has been temporarily relocated to the Winnie Post Office (77665) at 324 Hwy. 124 in Winnie for pickup. Mail for customer at the Gilchrist Post Office (77617), has been relocated to the Stowell Post Office (77661) at 3608 State Hwy. 124. For the latest information on USPS service updates, check: http://www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm.

“We are well positioned at this point in our recovery efforts,” said Kelvin Williams, district manager for the Houston District. “We understand the difficulties being faced by our customers, and we're dong our part to ensure they receive their checks, important documents, and packages on time.” Postal Service employees in the area are advised to contact the USPS National Emergency Notification Hotline daily at: 1-888-363-7462.

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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, six days a week. 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.