CRAWFORD COUNTY, Mo. – A disruption in mail service in Crawford County, Missouri, has some residents stranded without medications. The Steelville Post Office has been closed since flooding at the facility on election day.
“They’re failing us, because it’s been almost a month already and our post office is still not open,” Faith Gee said.
People here wonder if they will ever get their mail again. A sign on the post office door says, “We have been temporarily re-homed to Salem.”
Salem’s in an entirely different county—about a 40-minute drive down a winding dual-lane road. One woman, who did not want to be identified, said she was with a customer who had made the drive to get his medicine.
“They told him they did not have it,” she said. “He would have to come back later, and he stated that he had a hard time getting meds the first time, so it would be hard to get there a second time.”
Many people in the area say they don’t get mail delivery.
Mark Hedrick explained, “I don’t have a mailbox because people will shoot your mailbox, baseball bat your mailbox, steal your checks or your Christmas cards, and so the reliable way is to have them locked up in this postal building.”
The Steelville Post Office is one of many casualties from storms and flooding earlier this month. From the front door of the post office, you can see a washed-out bridge next door as another example.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is preparing an emergency disaster declaration. The damage assessments are still being calculated.
A representative for the U.S. Postal Service answered FOX 2 simply saying, “The safety of our customers and our employees are our top priority. We do not have a timeline at this time, but we appreciate everyone’s patience.”
There’s no official reason for the reopening delay, but customers say they’ve heard from employees that the flood created an environmental hazard in the building.
“It should have been a clean bleach and clean out and lay down some tiles, and they’re procrastinating and dragging their feet,” Hedrick added.
Gee suggested USPS “…utilize a temporary establishment (trailer). Set it up here in this parking lot or over here so that way people that can’t drive or don’t have a vehicle to get to Salem to get their mail can actually come to the same place and get their mail.”
If you have a complaint about this or any other us mail issue- you should contact the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General by calling 1-888-877-7644 or emailing hotline@uspsoig.gov