Australia Post slowly resuming normal service

If the arrival of the daily mail is a measure of normality, then it is slowly returning to some of the Australian towns hit hardest by the bushfires.

If the arrival of the daily mail is a measure of normality, then it is slowly returning to some of the Australian towns hit hardest by the bushfires.

Australia Post is now delivering and picking up from all but a handful of the state’s worst-affected towns, including for the first time this week in Narbethong, where four died.

For home owners whose homes have been burnt down, mail is either being redirected or held at a nearby post office.

Australia Post has waived the cost of redirections for residents in fire-affected towns.

Some towns, such as Whittlesea, Australia Post has set up what are virtually portable post offices to service residents who are staying there after their homes were destroyed.

Business mail in particular has been the priority for many, and spokesman Alex Twomey said Australia Post had been at pains to make sure the mail got through to companies hit by the fires.

In all, the post in 34 regional areas was affected by the fires. Mail service only returned to Narbethong on 21 February, although some deliveries have not resumed yet.

But the list of no deliveries is getting shorter by the day with only a handful of towns still having no post.