Helene Poses Big Problems for Mail Service in Western NC
From medication to ballots, the U.S. Postal Service is a critical delivery method. Here’s what to know about the state of services following Hurricane Helene.
In the days since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Western North Carolina, about 1.2 million people have lost their postal delivery service, and could see that disrupted for weeks to come.
The U.S. Postal Service announced the suspension of mail delivery operations in the areas with zip codes beginning with 286, 287, 288, and 289, and has not given any updates on when it will resume.
The most obvious barrier is a lack of mailboxes or even homes to deliver to in flood-ravaged parts of the state. The North Carolina Department of Transportation also estimates as many as 390 road closures including parts of Interstate 40.
“Is there an address remaining to which it can be delivered?” said Thomas Birkland, the former director for the Infrastructure Management and Hazard Response program at the National Science Foundation. “Is there a functioning post office available to process the mail, to deliver it? Are there people available to deliver it? And are the roads open so that you can deliver the mail? If any one of those answers is no, then the mail is going to be delayed.”
Birkland said one way researchers measured the impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was by assessing the extent to which mail was deliverable.
“If the house is destroyed, or the business is destroyed, there’s no point to which it can deliver the mail, and so [the postal service would] have to hold on to it,” Birkland said.
Philip Bogenberger, spokesperson for the North Carolina and Virginia districts of the U.S. Postal Service, said in a statement that the agency is working to restore delivery service to western North Carolina.
“The safety of our customers and employees is the Postal Service’s top priority in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Bogenberger wrote. “At this time, we are still assessing damages and impacts. We are dispatching recovery teams to affected areas.”
Filed under: General Problems
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