That old adage about how rain, sleet and snow won’t stop letter carriers from making their appointed rounds should be amended to include widespread power failure. The post office isn’t immune from electrical outages, and dozens of postal facilities across the state have been without power since the weekend’s ice and snowstorm.
Des Moines Postmaster Robert Galtrude says postal workers all over Iowa are doing their best to cope with the wintry weather and the storm’s aftermath. Galtrude says "It’s a really challenging circumstance for us. We’ve got a total of about 85 small, rural offices around the state that are still without power. Many of them could have power restored as soon as this afternoon. Others, unfortunately, they’re projecting it could be early or the middle of next week before we get them all on-line."
Galtrude says some of those offices are on battery backups and "In every case, we’re doing the very best we can under the circumstances. If there’s delivery out of those units, the carriers are coming in and casing, oftentimes in the cold and dark and making extra efforts to get our customers’ mail delivered." Galtrude urges all Iowans to keep their sidewalks and driveways clear.
Since December first, about 60 letter carriers statewide have had slips, trips or falls, most of them due to ice and snow around people’s mailboxes, three that resulted in broken bones. Galtrude says it’s a real challenge to get around for some postal workers and any extra effort by the homeowners will be much appreciated.