Thequietheroismofmaildelivery
A) OnWednesday, apolarwindbroughtbittercoldtotheMidwest. Overnight, Chicagoreachedalowof 21 degreesFahrenheitbelowzero, makingitslightlycolderthanAntarctica (南极洲), Alaska, andtheNorthPole. Windchillswere 64 degreesbelowzeroinParkRapids, Minnesota, and 45 degreesbelowzeroinBuffalo, NorthDakota, accordingtotheNationalWeatherService. Schools, restaurants, andbusinessesclosed, andmorethan 1,000 flightswerecanceled.
B) EventheUnitedStatesPostalService (USPS) suspendedmaildelivery. "DuetothisarcticoutbreakandconcernsforthesafetyofUSPSemployees," USPSannouncedWednesdaymorning, "thePostalServiceissuspendingdeliveryJan. 30 insome 3-digitZIPCodelocations." TwelveregionswerelistedasunsafeonWednesday; onThursday, eightremained.
C) Asglobalsurfacetemperaturesincrease, sodoesthelikelihoodofextremeweather. In 2018 alone, wildfires, volcaniceruptions, hurricanes, mudslides, andothernaturaldisasterscostatleast $49 billionintheUnitedStates. AsmycolleagueVannNewkirkreported, PuertoRicoisstillconfrontingeconomicandstructuraldestructionandresourcescarcityfrom 2017'sHurricaneMaria. Naturaldisasterscanwreckacommunity'sinfrastructure, disruptingsystemsformonthsoryears. Someservices, however, remindusthatlifewilleventuallyreturn, insomeform, tonormal.
D) Daysafterthedeadly 2017 wildfiresinSantaRosa, California, adrone (无人机) caughtfootage (连续镜头) ofaUSPSworker, TrevorSmith, drivingthroughburnedhomesinthatfamiliarwhitevan, collectingmailinanaffectedarea. Thevideoisstriking: Theoperationisfamiliar, butthescenelooksliketheendoftheworld. AccordingtoRaeAnnHaight, theprogrammanagerforthenational-preparednessofficeatUSPS, Smithwasfulfillingarequestmadebysomeofthehomeownerstopickupanymailthatwasleftuntouched. ForSmith, thiswasjustanotherdayonthejob. "IfollowedmyroutelikeInormallydo," Smithtoldareporter. "AsIcameacrossaboxthatwasupbutwithnohouse, Ichecked, andtherewasmail -- outgoingmail -- init. AndsoIpickedthoseupandcarriedon."
E) USPShassophisticatedemergencyplansfornaturaldisasters. Acrossthecountry, 285 emergency-managementteamsaredevotedtocrisiscontrol. TheseteamsaretrainedannuallyusingaframeworkknownasthethreePs: people, property, product. Aftermailservicestopsduetoweather, theagency'stoppriorityisensuringthatemployeesaresafe. Thenitevaluatesthehealthofinfrastructure, suchastheroadsthatmailcarriersdriveon. Finally, itdecideswhenandhowtore-openoperations. Ifthedestructionisextreme, mailaddressedtotheareawillgetsentelsewhere. InresponsetoHurricaneKatrinain 2005, USPSredirectedincomingNewOrleansmailtoexistingmailfacilitiesinHouston. MailthatwasalreadyprocessedinNewOrleansfacilitieswasmovedtoanupperfloorsoitwouldbeprotectedfromwaterdamage.
F) Assoonasit'ssafeenoughtobeoutside, couriers (邮递员) startdistributingaccumulatedmailonthestill-accessibleroutes. USPSurgesthosewithoutstandingaddressestofilechange-of-addressformswiththeirnewlocation. AfterHurricaneKatrinahitin 2005, mailfacilitiesweresetupindozensoflocationsacrossthecountryinthetwoweeksthatUSPSwasunabletoprovidestreetdelivery.
G) Everyday, USPSprocesses, onaverage, 493.4 millionpiecesofmail -- anythingfrompostcardstoSocialSecuritycheckstomedicine. SpokespeoplefrombothUSPSandUPStoldmeallmailisimportant. Butsomemailcanbeextremelysensitiveandtimely. AccordingtodatareleasedinJanuary 2017, 56 percentofbillsarepaidonline, whichmeansthatjustunderhalfofpaymentsstillrelyondeliveryservicestobecompleted.
H) ItcanbehardtoidentifywhichparcelsarecarryingcrucialitemssuchasSocialSecuritychecks, butUSPSandUPStrytheirbesttoprioritizesensitivematerial. TheywillcoordinatewiththeSocialSecurityAdministrationtomakesurethatSocialSecuritychecksreachtherightpeopleinatimelyfashion. AfterHurricaneFlorenceandHurricaneMichaellastfall, USPSworkedwithstateandlocalelectionboardstomakesurethatabsenteeballotswereavailableandreceivedontime.
I) Mailcompaniesarelogistics (物流) companies, whichputstheminaspecialpositiontohelpwhendisasterstrikes. Ina 2011 USPScasestudy, theagencyemphasizeditsmassiveinfrastructureasa "uniquefederalasset" tobecalleduponinadisasterorterroristattack. "Ithinkwe'reuniqueasafederalagency," USPSofficialMikeSwigarttoldme, "becausewe'reinliterallyeverycommunityinthiscountry... We'reobligatedtodelivertothatpointonadailybasis."
J) Privatecouriercompanies, whichhavemoredollarstospend, usetheirexpertiseinlogisticstohelprevitalizedamagedareasafteradisaster. Formorethanadecade, FedExhassupportedtheAmericanRedCrossinitsefforttogetemergencysuppliestoareasaffectedbydisasters, bothdomesticallyandinternationally. In 2012, thecompanydistributedmorethan 1,200 MedPackstoMedicalReserveCorpsgroupsinCalifornia. Theyalsodonatedspacefor 3.1 millionpoundsofcharitableshippingglobally. LastOctober, thecompanypledged $1 millionincashandtransportationsupportforHurricanesFlorenceandMichael. UPS'scharitablearm, theUPSFoundation, usesthecompany'slogisticstohelpdisaster-struckareasrebuild. "Werealizethatasacompanywithpeople, trucks, warehouses, weneededtoplayalargerrole," saidEduardoMartinez, thepresidentoftheUPSFoundation. Thecompanyemploysitstrucksandplanestodeliverfood, medicine, andwater. ThedaybeforeIspoketoMartinezinNovember, hehadbeentouringthedamagefromHurricaneMichaelinFloridawiththeAmericanRedCross. "Wehaveanobligationtomakesureourcommunitiesarethriving," hesaid.
K) Rebuildingcantakealongtime, andeventhen, impressionsofthedisastermaystillremain. Returningtoanormallifecanbedifficult, butsomesmallroutines -- maildeliverybeingoneofthem -- mayhelpresidentsrememberthattheircommunitiesarestilltheircommunities. "Whentheyseethatcarrierbackoutonthestreet," Swigartsaid, "that'sthefirstsigntothemthatlifeisstartingtoreturntonormal."
36. TheUnitedStatesPostalServicehasasystemtoensureitsemployees'safety.
37. OneofficialsaysUSPSisuniqueinthatithasmoredirectreachtocommunitiescomparedwithotherfederalagencies.
38. Naturaldisasterscanhavealong-lastingimpactoncommunitylife.
39. Maildeliveryserviceisstillresponsibleforthecompletionofalmosthalfofpayments.
40. Thesightofamailmanonthestreetisareassuringsignoflifebecomingnormalagain.
41. AfterHuricaneKatrinaiteruptedroutinedelivery, temporarymailservicepointsweresetup.
42. PostalserviceinsomeregionsintheU.S. wassuspendedduetoextremecoldweather.
43. Privatepostalcompaniesalsosupportdisasterreliefefortsbydistributingurgentsupplies.
44. AdedicatedUSPSemployeewasonthejobcarryingoutdutiesinspiteofextremeconditions.
45. Postalservicesworkhardtoidentifyitemsthatrequireprioritytreatment.