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Buffalo still waiting for post office to reopen after flood

Long after Mississippi River flooding receded, there’s still no mail service in Buffalo, Iowa. Now, the riverfront town of 1,200 wants some answers, along...

Long after Mississippi River flooding receded, there's still no mail service in Buffalo, Iowa.

Now, the riverfront town of 1,200 wants some answers, along with its mail.

Sparks are flying inside Metal Werks on Wednesday. Tempers are short. Owner Bob Freeman is steaming mad.

"The frustrating part is that nobody knows anything," he said.

Freeman fixes things for a living, but this stumps him.  Buffalo's post office is still closed more than two weeks after basement flooding.

"You have to have postal service," he said. "That's the way we do our billing. That's the way I receive my paycheck."

Longtime resident Rodney Scott is looking for his mail.

"The river never even got this high," he said.

Yet, Scott was stopped by signs and a locked door at the Buffalo Post Office.

"It's real frustrating for the older people," he said.  People that can't get around or can't drive. How do they get their mail?"

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service says there's no firm deadline for reopening the Buffalo branch. Talks are continuing with the landlord to repair the leased building.

Bob Freeman must make a daily 12-mile round trip to Blue Grass.  All of Buffalo's mail has been coming there since June 30. It's a tiresome routine with no end in sight.

"It's a whole bunch of finger-pointing, but there's no plan," he said. "It's totally frustrating."

The Buffalo Post Office remains closed.

"I think it's dry now," said customer Tammy Whitmer.

Customers and a community waiting for a resolution.

"The mailbox was all closed up," she said.

Even city leaders aren't getting any answers.

"We have had a federal agent come and basically threaten our city clerk," said Buffalo Councilman Olin Meador. "They said she was asking too many questions, and she was just trying to get answers."

While rain and sleet can't stop the mail according to lore, apparently a flooded basement in Buffalo can.

 

 

 

 

 

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