As of Saturday morning, St. Thomas residents will be able pick up and ship mail, at least to some degree, in some locations, according to the U.S. Postal Service. New mail is coming in and money order services are starting Saturday. While St. Croix was not directly affected, the ramping up does mean it is now possible for St. Croix residents to ship to St. Thomas through the U.S. Postal Service.
St. John is not yet up.
The Postal Service has been ramping up for the past several days, beginning with pickup of existing, undelivered mail on the island.
“Our distribution of mail efforts today were warmly greeted at the three locations – Emancipation, Havensight and Charlotte Amalie. Several hundred cars, most carrying several postal customers at a time, were safely guided through our grounds and another 50 or so local residents reportedly walked up to our location in Charlotte Amalie,” Postal service representative Maureen Marion said in an email.
The level of service is increasing and they are starting to accept items to ship out. she said.
“We will restore mail pickup service for customers of the Tutu Mall / East End Post Office. Pickup of mail for customers of ZIP Code 00805 (conducted in Charlotte Amalie today) will resume on location on Saturday at 4605 Tutu Park Mall.” she said. Service at all open offices is scheduled to run from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Customers with post office boxes should be prepared with identification in case of handout service but access to the boxes may be possible. “Bring that key!” Marion said.
They plan to resume retail operations at Havensight – 9007 Havensight Shopping Center, on Saturday That means people will be able to send and receive money orders as well as shipping packages. There had been plans to open the facility at Emancipation Station, but they had to roll it back.
Charlotte Amalie Post Office (9846 Estate Thomas) will continue to serve as a pickup point for mail and packages that would otherwise be processed through our Veterans Annex. This is mail for residents whose address contains the ZIP Code 00803.
“We are optimistic that transportation will allow us to bring in more mail for all locations in St Thomas, starting tomorrow. So if you came for mail on Friday, we anticipate more mail for you again Saturday,” Marion said.
There is still an embargo on Priority Mail Express and for live animals to be shipped into St Thomas. Street delivery is not yet possible in St Thomas. But packages are coming in, mail can go out and people can process money orders.
There is no word on any postal service for St. John yet, but with the ferries running, at least it might be possible to have something shipped to a St.Thomas friend or come over and take care of a money order by having it sent to a friend or relative.
