USPS Is Suspending Services in These States, Effective Now
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The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is no stranger to pulling back deliveries or closing post offices when necessary. But while there are many circumstances that can create service disruptions, the most common are weather-related. Severe snowstorms, hurricanes, and wildfires have prompted the closure of several post offices over the past year. Now, hazardous conditions are forcing the USPS to once again shutter more facilities across the country. Read on to discover where the agency is suspending services.
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Certain Michigan postal customers can no longer access their local post office. In an Aug. 25 update to its Service Alerts website , the USPS announced that it had suspended all operations at a facility in Potterville, Michigan. The Potterville Post Office is “temporarily closed due to power outage and safety concerns,” the agency stated in its alert.
In a separate local press release , the Postal Service explained that the safety issues had been caused by storm damage, and that the temporary closure was enacted “to ensure the safety of both postal customers and employees” at the Potterville Post Office.
“Customers can retrieve their PO Box mail at the Lansing Post Office during regular retail hours,” the USPS added. “The Postal Service apologizes for any inconvenience the temporary closure may cause our customers.”
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The Potterville Post Office in Michigan isn’t the only facility affected by recent severe weather. Since Aug. 25, the USPS has also been limiting retail operations at 11 other post offices: Webberville, Williamston, Dimondale, Cohoctah, Cannonsburg, Grand Ledge, Lansing, Fowler, Saranac, Dansville, and Clarksville.
These suspensions came after at least seven tornadoes struck Michigan at the end of last week during a barrage of severe storms, the Associated Press reported. According to the news outlet, the strong winds killed five people, knocked down countless tress, tore roofs off of buildings, and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power.
When Best Life reached out to the USPS to find out more about the service suspensions, spokesperson Elizabeth Najduch said that power and retail operations had just been restored at the 11 impacted post offices.
The Potterville Post Office is still closed to customers, but is expected to “resume normal retail operations Aug. 29,” according to Najduch.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
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Outside of Michigan, postal customers in California are also dealing with service disruptions. In a local press release from Aug. 25, the USPS revealed that it had shuttered the Ygnacio Valley Post Office in Walnut Creek, California. The facility is “temporarily close due to structural damage,” according to the release.
When Best Life reached out to the Postal Service to find out more about the damage, spokesperson Meiko Patton said that the agency has no additional information to add at this time.
“We will re-open as soon as it is safe to do so,” Patton said.
During the closure, the USPS is directing Ygnacio Valley Post Office customers to the Walnut Creek Main Post Office in order to retrieve their P.O. Box mail.
“We apologize for this inconvenience to our customers,” the agency said in its release.
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Other parts of California have faced recent closures as well. A few days earlier on Aug. 22, the USPS announced that it had shuttered a facility in Los Angeles. The La Tijera Post Office is “temporarily closed for emergency repairs,” according to the agency’s Service Alerts update.
In a separate Aug. 24 local press release , the Postal Service revealed that the post office had been damaged from storm waters.
“A water incursion from the recent storm damaged the La Tijera facility,” the agency stated. “Out of an abundance of caution, the building cannot be occupied during repairs.”
Operations have been temporarily relocated to the Hawthorne Post Office during this closure.
“We apologize for this inconvenience,” the USPS said in its release. “This is only a temporary measure, and we will reopen the Post Office as soon as the repairs are made, and it is safe.”
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/residential/welcome.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/mi/2023/0825-potterville-po-service-temporarily-moved-to-lansing-po.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/ca/2023/0825-ygnacio-valley-po-temporarily-closes.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/ca/2023/0824-julian-dixon-po-damaged-from-storm-waters.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.
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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.”
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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.
