Its post office in Creole, LA, was wrenched from the foundation and blown 200 feet (61 meters) away. Another facility was completely obliterated, leaving only a slab and a leaning flagpole as clues to its former existence.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) took a big hit from the recent hurricanes. The double-barreled blasts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may have caused an estimated $100 million damage to USPS facilities along the Gulf Coast and affected 6,052 employees. But here's the good news - the amazing news: All postal employees are accounted for and uninjured. The USPS experience is a study in disaster response.

The Impact

Hurricane Katrina hit the USPS hard. More than 30 USPS facilities along the Gulf Coast were inundated with floodwaters or storm surges reaching heights of 11 feet (3.3 meters). As would be expected from a Category 4 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 145 miles per hour (230 kilometers per hour), many buildings suffered extensive structural damage that made them unsafe to enter or occupy.

And then there were the trucks. In New Orleans alone, about 200 USPS vehicles lay under water after Katrina.

"The magnitude of this devastation was unprecedented in its scope and intensity," said Sam Pulcrano, USPS manager of Safety Performance Management. "Never before have we had such a large geographical area sustain such a degree of damage that has persisted over such a long period of time."

The Recovery: Tracking Down the Missing

But the devastation was limited to property damage. "All our people have been accounted for," said Pulcrano. "We took extensive steps to make sure of that." Pulcrano describes how USPS pulled off this feat.

"We worked with our unions to try to locate people and our postal inspectors and postal police actually went to people's homes trying to locate them." USPS also activated a toll-free emergency number to allow hurricane-affected postal workers to call in and report their whereabouts and situations.

Pulcrano said USPS set up a facility assessment center, where industrial hygienists, structural engineers and security specialists developed clearance criteria to ensure that USPS buildings were not entered and reoccupied until architectural, security, safety and health issues were addressed to their satisfaction.

The Recovery: Dealing with Mold

Relentless heat and high humidity after the storm created ideal conditions for another hazard - mold. "We had mold growth in all our facilities that had sustained surge water damage. One of our facilities even had a greenish slime that is typically only found in lakes," Pulcrano said. Microbial disinfectants are being used to destroy germs left in the hurricane's wake, he added.

Other USPS buildings oozed with sludge. Many facilities are still undergoing extensive clean-up and restoration, including removal of porous surfaces that sustained water damage such as countertops, drywall and ceiling tiles.

The Recovery: Delivering the Mail

Of course, USPS also faced the challenge of resuming normal mail delivery service. Rain-damaged mail was captured, dried out and sent on, each piece accompanied by a note telling recipients that delivery was delayed because of the hurricane.

Mail that was potentially damaged by surge waters was taken to a temporary processing facility in Memphis, TN, for testing to determine whether it was recoverable. A second temporary facility is being set up in New Orleans.

USPS employees whose workplaces were damaged or destroyed by Katrina or Rita have been transferred temporarily to other facilities as far north as Maine and as far west as California. USPS worked with the American Postal Workers Union and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union to facilitate the transfers.

The Lessons of Katrina Applied to Rita

Thanks to Katrina, USPS learned some valuable lessons about responding to hurricanes and other disasters, natural and man-made, Pulcrano notes. Little did anyone realize that it would take only a few weeks to apply those lessons.

As a result of Katrina, USPS was in a better position to prepare and respond to Hurricane Rita. "For example, we tracked the (projected) path of Rita and relocated mail and postal assets such as vehicles and computers out of the hurricane path to reduce the impact of any potential disaster."

Pulcrano advises organizations and companies to ensure that the addresses and telephone numbers they have for their employees and emergency contacts are up to date so they can be reached quickly in an emergency.

Conclusion

In spite of hurricane tracking and advance warning technology, one of these monster's ultimate paths and destructive powers remain unknown until the damage is done. Still, organizations such as USPS have proven resourceful at developing answers that undoubtedly will mitigate damage from future hurricanes.

ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF KATRINA

Jobs had been growing at a rapid clip - an average of 194,000 per month in the 12 months ending in August. The unemployment rate had fallen to 4.9 percent in August, a four-year low.

And then came Katrina.

In September, the U.S. economy lost 35,000 payroll jobs. This was the first monthly decline in more than two years. And the September figures don't count the jobs lost as a result of Hurricane Rita, which came at the end of the month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, national job growth would have continued at its previous robust pace were it not for the hurricane. "It is clear that Hurricane Katrina adversely affected labor market conditions in September," a BLS spokesman said.

OSHA & HURRICANE RESPONSE

OSHA has published free materials to help employers and workers deal with the health and safety hazards of hurricane clean-up and recovery, including:

• 37 Fact Sheets; and
• 8 two-sided, 4 x 9 inch "Quick Cards"

All materials can be downloaded from the OSHA web site, www.osha.gov/OshDoc/hurricaneRecovery.html.

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