GALVESTON — Through rain, sleet or snow, the U.S. Postal Service delivers, so the old slogan goes. But hurricanes? Well, that’s another matter altogether.
Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, speaking Monday to local and national news organizations, made a direct and emphatic plea to federal officials, the U.S. Postmaster General in particular, to reopen the island’s main post office at 601 25th St. downtown.
The island is home to two post offices, the second being Bob Lyons Station, 5826 Broadway. Both sustained flood damage from Hurricane Ike, which struck Sept. 13 and brought storm surge as high as 12 feet in some areas of the island.
Although some island mail routes are again in service, many residents and business have had to make daily treks to La Marque. Sometimes people wait for hours in line to retrieve their mail.
Businesses in particular rely on the island’s downtown post office, Thomas said.
“This is a real hardship,” Thomas said. “Some of our people have no transportation.”
The downtown post office is in the Federal Building, which also houses U.S. District Courts and other governmental offices. It provides retail service, post office box service and mail delivery for ZIP codes 77550, 77553 and 77555.
U.S. Postal Service officials did not return phone calls Monday. But in past statements, they said the downtown building would be closed for “an undetermined time,” while restoration of the Bob Lyons Station would be completed within five months.
Mail for post office box customers in ZIP code 77552 will be available from portable buildings in front of the Bob Lyons Station starting today.
But the temporary site at Gulfway Plaza in La Marque, 14057 Delany Road, would continue to provide mail pickup and retail services for all other Galveston ZIP codes, officials said.
Operations will transfer to the portable building at the Bob Lyons Station no later than Oct. 27, officials said.
Thomas said inquiries about when the U.S. Postal Service would return to service downtown have gone unanswered.
