The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a vital resource for nearly all of us, with many Americans relying on the postal system for essential things like financial paperwork and medical prescriptions. But the agency often needs to adjust its operations, and that usually affects customers. Over the past year alone, we've seen the USPS curtail delivery service after animal attacks and shut down post offices for weather concerns. Now, the Postal Service has once again been forced to shutter services at a large number of facilities. Read on to find out about the USPS' closure of 51 post offices.
READ THIS NEXT: USPS Is Making New Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now.
The USPS just closed 51 post offices.
iStockMany residents are now facing postal disruptions, according to the latest service alerts from the USPS. Starting Feb. 23, the agency has been temporarily shuttering facilities in California. There are now 51 post offices "currently closed" in total, as of March 1.
The first facility in California to close was the Palomar Post Office, according to a Feb. 23 alert from the Postal Service. Following that, five additional post offices have been closed since Feb. 24, 12 more since Feb. 25, another 12 since Feb. 27, and six others since Feb. 28.
The latest update to the closures was made on March 1, when the Postal Service announced that it had just shuttered 15 more facilities in the state.
All of the facilities were closed for the same reason.
ShutterstockThe 51 current post office closures in California affect cities like Big Bear, Crestline, Frazier Park, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs. All of the facilities have been temporarily shuttered for the same reason: The USPS closed these post office "due to severe winter storms," according to its service alerts.
In local press releases for California, the agency added that many of the closures were necessary because of "road closures and limited access" caused by the severe weather. And at least one facility appears to have been damaged by the storms.
The Postal Service issued a news release on Feb. 27 explaining that the post office in Bridgeport, California, experienced a "main water pipe burst" during the winter weather, which has led to sustained damage in the building.
California is battling back-to-back winter storms.
iStockCalifornia has been going through it this winter. Starting last week, portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties in Southern California were under rare blizzard warnings as a powerful winter storm was moving into the area, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"All systems go for a major and unusual storm," the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a Feb. 22 forecast, per the newspaper.
Another winter storm headed into the state on March 1, after the first had already knocked out power to thousands and closed numerous roads, according to CNN. The NWS forecasted that another 12 to 24 inches of snow could fall over the mountains of Southern California as a result of these back-to-back storms.
Gov. Gavin Newson just declared a state of emergency in 13 counties, including San Bernardino County, where many of the post office closures are located.
There is no timeline for when these California post offices will reopen.
ShutterstockThe first of the two recent winter storms in California prompted the USPS to close several post offices in Mendocino County on Feb. 24. Just a few days later, on Feb. 28, the agency announced that several of the facilities in this county had reopened. But the Leggett Post Office in Mendocino County remains temporarily closed, along with the more recent closures.
"This remains a rapidly changing situation," the USPS said in a warning to California customers. As a result, there is no certainty on when the other post offices will reopen. Best Life reached to the USPS to see if a timeline has been set, but has not yet heard back.
"Services will resume at these facilities as soon as the U.S. Postal Service determines that it is safe to do so," the agency said in its news releases. "We ask for patience as we hold our solemn duties to provide the safest, fastest, and most efficient method of providing mail service to our residents."
But as we've seen in the past, facilities aren't always reopened quickly after dangerous weather. In Florida, at least seven post offices appear to still be closed "due to impacts from Hurricane Ian," according to the latest alerts from the USPS. This hazardous storm first made landfall in the state back in Sept. 2022—meaning these facilities have remained temporarily shuttered for over five months now.
