Residents in a northeast Missouri town finally have their post office back which had been closed due to flooding. La Grange residents are picking up their mail from their own post office for the first time in 7 months.
Photo courtesy of WGEM in Quincy, Illinois
“It’s the longest I ever remember, yeah. It did take a long time and I know they were trying very hard. I talked to the lady in charge a couple times and she said they were looking at different options but there’s only so much they can do,” resident Doug Mallet tells Missourinet affiliate WGEM.
Workers said more than 4 feet of water was inside the building at the height of the flood. The lobby has new drywall and the floors and P.O. boxes are all cleaned up.
Most residents in La Grange don’t have mailboxes and have to pick their mail up from the post office itself.
“The lobby is open all the time so if we come in late or we go out of town or something and come in late, I can get my mail,” says Mallett.
Not having it for so long caused residents and the city to travel to nearby Canton to pick up their mail.
“Not having a post office it just ends up not being any good. So having that facility in town and being able to utilize our own post office goes a long way,” says city administrator John Roach.
Meanwhile, residents say the office opened back up at the perfect time. With more packages being delivered this time of year, residents said they’ll be able to send them to the post office instead of leaving them out in the open on their front porch.
“With Christmas coming, I have a bunch of things ordered for nieces and nephews and family and you don’t want them just leaving it on their porch and a lot of times the UPS people will leave it down here which is a lot safer so it’s really nice having it back again,” says Mallett.
Workers say Wednesday was an extremely busy first day back but they are continuing to clean up and get the La Grange office all the way back to normal for at least the next couple of weeks.
By Brett Knese of Missourinet affiliate WGEM in Quincy, Illinois
