USPS Is Suspending Services in These States, Effective Immediately
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If you’ve seen postal carriers outside delivering mail in the extreme summer heat, you might assume that they can do their jobs in any conditions. But when the weather gets too dangerous, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will actually pull workers from their routes and suspend operations. In fact, this past winter we saw the USPS temporarily close hundreds of post offices across the country amid snowstorms and blizzards. Now, summer storms are pushing the agency to pull back in more places across the country. Read on to discover where the USPS is currently suspending services.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
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A major natural disaster is currently causing widespread postal disruptions in the Sunshine State. In a new warning on its website, the Postal Service announced that several post offices in Florida are now closed due to Hurricane Idalia. “A destructive Hurricane Idalia made landfall along the west coast of Florida,” the agency stated. “There are impacts to USPS operations in areas affected by the powerful storm. Please refer to our residential service alerts webpage for current status. Our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees.”
In an Aug. 29 update to its Service Alerts , the USPS indicated that the approaching storm had prompted them to suspend operations at just 10 facilities in the state. Then on Aug. 30, the agency added 50 more post offices to the list. That makes a total of 60 facilities closed in Florida right now, including in Clearwater, Saint Petersburg, Horeshoe Beach, and Largo.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
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Hurricane Idalia first hit the Big Bend of Florida’s Gulf Coast on the morning of Aug. 30, CNN reported. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, shutting down bridges, prompting evacuations, and knocking the power out across nearly 270,000 homes and businesses in the state. Small island cities such as Cedar Key (which has had its post office closed by the USPS) have already been overwhelmed by the hurricane. “We’re effectively cut off from the world now,” Cedar Key resident Michael Bobbitt told CNN.
As a result, the Postal Service has not only suspended retail operations at those 60 post offices in Florida. In two separate local press releases , the USPS warned residents in these areas that delivery operations have also been halted. This will remain in effect “until further notice,” according to the agency.
“The Postal Service appreciates its customers and their understanding as we temporarily adjust operations due to inclement weather,” the USPS stated in one of the releases. “We will continue to monitor weather conditions and will restore service when it is safe to do so.”
RELATED: USPS Warns “Mail Service Could Be Halted”—Even If You’re Following the Rules .
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Bad weather hasn’t just brought postal closures to Florida, however. In an Aug. 28 update to its Service Alerts website, the USPS announced that it had suspended all retail operations at the Beachwood Post Office in Ohio. The suspension is “due to a power outage,” the agency stated.
More than 310,000 customers in northeast Ohio lost power due to storms that hit the area on the night of Aug. 24, according to an alert on the City of Beachwood’s official website . But as of Aug. 28, at least 10,000 customers were still without power.
Best Life has reached out to the USPS to find out when retail operations will resume at the Beachwood Post Office, and we will update this story with their response. The agency has told customers that they may find service at two nearby retail locations: Shaker Heights Post Office and Cranwood Post Office.
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The USPS issued another Service Alert on Aug. 29 to inform residents of Winifrede, West Virginia about a new service suspension in the area. According to the agency’s alert, the Winifrede Post Office has been “temporarily closed due to safety concerns.”
Best Life has reached out to the Postal Service to get more detail on the stated concerns, and we will update this story with their response. But similar to what’s affecting Florida and Ohio, it appears that hazardous storms have also played a part in this closure.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency on Aug. 28 for several counties—including Kanawha County, where Winifrede is located. The order was issued after heavy rainfall over the weekend started to cause flash floods in the area, USA Today reported. As a result, the USPS has moved all operations from the Winifrede Post Office to the Marmet Post Office in Charleston, West Virginia.
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/residential/welcome.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/fl/2023/0829-usps-adjusts-operations-in-northern-fl.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/fl/2023/0830-usps-suspends-operations-due-to-hurricane-idalia.htm
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
RELATED: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Resigns—What It Means for the USPS and Your Mail .
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
