USPS, Inspection Service Help Haiti Recover

Miami ISC Mail Handler Equipment Operator Godfrey Williams safely loads pallets of bottled water. Photo: Donna Demirgian

Miami ISC Plant Manager Benjamin Vidal (right) discusses logistics for the bottled water shipment with Salvation Army representative. Photo: Donna Demirgian

In the month following the earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. Postal Service continues to provide relief assistance -- through the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Miami International Service Center.

A team of six Postal Inspectors has gone to Haiti to conduct security assessments and to help prepare for the restoration of mail service. The Director General of Haiti Post reports that all postal facilities in Port-au-Prince were destroyed. But none of the more than 600 Haitian postal employees died while on duty.

More than 1,000 cases of bottled water stored at the Materiel Distribution Center in Topeka KS for emergencies were shipped to the Miami ISC. Plant Manager Benjamin Vidal and Air Transportation Specialist Donna Demirgian made arrangements with the Salvation Army to transport the water to Haiti.