Postal officials in Central Florida announced the temporary suspension of delivery and retail services at post offices in the predicted path of Hurricane Frances.

All post offices in areas with ZIP Codes beginning 329, 334 and 349 -- as well as five post offices in the 327 ZIP Code area -- will suspend all retail and delivery services at close of business Thursday. The five post offices in the 327 ZIP Code area suspending service this evening include Christmas, Titusville, Mims, Oak Hill and Scottsmoor. These post offices will reopen Tuesday, September 7. Monday is Labor Day, a federal holiday.

Carriers will deliver mail on Friday to most customers with ZIP Codes beginning 327, 328 and 347, and most post offices in these areas will be open until 3:30 p.m. Friday. However, there will be no retail or delivery in these ZIP Codes on Saturday, September 4. These post offices will reopen Tuesday, September 7 after the Labor Day holiday.

The Postal Service’s emergency operations center has secured about 100 generators for use at post offices throughout the Central Florida area should Frances knock out power.

"We will use all available resources to get postal services back up as quickly as we can after the storm," said Central Florida District Manager Pete Captain.

Because Hurricane Frances is expected to disrupt mail processing and transportation throughout Florida, postal customers should expect some longer-than-normal transit times. "Along the storm’s path all air and surface transportation will come to a stand still," Captain explained. "As soon as possible after the storm we will use our transportation and processing capacities to the max to keep Frances’ effects to a minimum."

Customers can speak with an information operator at 1-800-ASK-USPS for updates on the post offices in their area.