Guys and Gals....I just got this from our printer who is sharing info they received from USPS. Please be patient. OGR will not be immediately "replacing" magazines that have not been delivered due to USPS delays. We ask that you give USPS time to deal with all of the ramifications of Hurrican Helene which could add weeks to magazine (and regular) mail delivery. Here is the official statement sent to our printer from USPS:
Hurricane Helene
Summary: Emergency efforts from Hurricane Helene continue as the storm has now been named the deadliest since Katrina in 2005. Clean-up and rebuilding will take months, not weeks. Power outages remain high with about 250,000 in eastern Georgia, 350,000 in western South Carolina and 270,000 in western North Carolina. Utility crews are restoring power at a remarkable rate; at this pace, most should have power in the next two days. About 400 roads, including dozens of highways, will remain closed for at least several days. Interstate 40 near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line will be closed for the long term.
Mailers potentially affected: Those with mail targeted to be in-home Sept. 25-Oct. 9 and possibly beyond in some locations.
Transportation to the USPS: Loads are delivering to the USPS. Please monitor Quad delivery reports on FIRE or Client Connect for specifics on your mail. Generally, loads were running two to four days late in getting to the USPS facilities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina this week. We expect transport to the USPS to be back to normal next week.
USPS Processing: The USPS reopened Florida SCFs in Manasota, Fort Myers and Tampa late on Sept. 27. The Tallahassee SCF reopened on Sept. 28. Mail is being processed in all facilities at a good rate, even in Greenville, South Carolina.
USPS delivery delays: The USPS announced suspended operations, including delivery, between Sept. 26 and Sept. 28 in all Zip Codes around Tallahassee, Tampa, Fort Myers, and Manasota. By Sept. 29, most Florida locations had resumed operations, although some are working out of alternative facilities. The USPS reported curtailed operations on Sept. 28 in coastal Georgia and closed locations in western North and South Carolina on Sept. 29. We suspect that much of the mail for western North and South Carolina did not deliver on Sept. 28, either. The USPS added to this list on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Today, Oct. 3, the USPS removed some South Carolina Zips from the list.
ZIP Codes potentially impacted: As of 10/3, mail remains curtailed in ZIPs 286, 287, 288, 289, 304, 308, 309, much of 280, 281, 293, 296, 298, 299, 304, 305, and 308 and parts of 270, 272, 273, 290, 291, 294, 313, 315, 316, 317, 323 and 326.
These ZIPs represent most of SCF Greenville, South Carolina, and SCF Augusta, Georgia; much of SCF Charlotte, North Carolina; and parts of SCFs Macon and North Metro, Georgia; Greensboro, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Tallahassee and some in SCF Jacksonville (including Savannah area Zips).
***Note: The USPS has not requested that mailers suppress any ZIPs at this time. The USPS normally sets up locations for residents to pick up mail if they can not deliver to them. They rarely issue a request to suppress Zips. Mailers can certainly decide not to mail to certain locations if they feel that is best for their business, but please remember that many weeks pass between data processing and mail delivery.
We will send an update if further information becomes available or if there is a major change in the list of ZIPs with curtailed delivery.
