LAURINBURG — Hurricane Matthew has slowed the delivery of mail in the area, but postal officials hope to be caught up by the weekend.
“We are about a week behind,” said a worker at the post office in Laurinburg. “If nothing else happens we should be caught up by Saturday.”
The delays began as a result of extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew that forced the postal service to reroute all mail from Fayetteville to a mail processing center in Charlotte. Officials with the U.S. Postal Service tried to correct the problem by processing mail at alternate sites, but there were still delays.
“We are committed to making every safe and timely delivery possible, however due to widespread flooding throughout the state, customers may experience some delays in some instances,” Philip Bogenberger, spokesman for the USPS Mid-Carolinas & Greensboro Districts said in a statement. “We live and work in the communities we serve, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the flooding.”
The sorting center in Fayetteville reopened today, but mail continues to be delayed by a few days in the city of Laurinburg simply because of the overwhelming amount of mail and packages the post office received this week.
“We weren’t getting anything and then all of a sudden were just got bombarded with mail,” said Ashley.
Mail that has been sent out this week is on a normal schedule, but anything that was ordered or supposed to be shipped last week or the week before is what’s lagging behind.
“It was pretty much everything,” said Vickie Hester, manager at the Laurinburg post office. “The processing centers normally drop off the mail to us in the morning, but with the storm they were dropping it off to us as they got it, which made it really hectic for us.”
Hester said customers have been very understanding about the situation, but the post office knows not getting mail on time or having bills arrive late can be frustrating.
“I would say 98 percent are, but there are always those couple of people,” Hester said. “But at this point our building is pretty much clear and we’re back on track.”
According to the Postal Service’s website, the Lumberton post office on East 7th Street was also closed due to no road access. The city is dealing with widespread flooding. Also closed were post offices in Godwin, Newton Grove, Parkton, Wade, Evergreen, Fairmont, Fair Bluff, Tabor City, Ivanhoe, Willard, Seven Springs and LaGrange.
Customers who have questions about mail delivery and retail services can call 1-910-423-2309 or 1-910-423-4065 or go to USPS Service Alerts. Customers can also contact the local USPS office in town at 910-276-3518.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.