Out of an abundance of caution, Postal Service officials of the Greater South Carolina District are preparing for the passing of Hurricane Irene in the Grand Strand area by advising customers that normal service operations may be affected in the event of unsafe conditions, which may include rain and high winds.
Some coastal Post Offices in the Grand Strand may temporarily close their P.O. box lobbies Friday night, Aug. 26 to avoid wind damage. The Postal Service is preparing for Irene’s arrival in the Grand Strand by advising customers to deposit outgoing mail today to ensure timely processing of mail destined for delivery outside the local area. If conditions deteriorate and roads become impassable or unsafe for travel, mail delivery services may be curtailed, and mail collection schedules from mail collection boxes could be suspended.
Postal Service employees in the Capital Metro Area, from South Carolina to Washington, DC will be working around-the-clock to secure the mail, postal facilities and equipment in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irene.
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 will be suspended, including mail processing, mail delivery, scheduled collection of mail from mail collection boxes, bulk mail acceptance, Post Office box service and retail Post Office lobby services. Drop shipment appointments for commercial mailers will also be suspended at closed facilities.
For the latest information on USPS service updates, check:
http://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/welcome.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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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
