February-March 2040 Flash Flood Mail Alerts
Title
February-March 2040 Flash Flood Mail Alerts
Creator
Kai Ruiz
Date
04/23/2026
Text
02/20/40
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 5 feet as of Feburary 20th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 6 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Effective immediately:
Post offices that are in high-risk areas are to vacate immediately with the following high priority mail:
- Cremated Remains
- Live Animals
- Military & Diplomatic Mail
Lower priority mail is to be transferred to the nearest safe post office, following standard interception procedures. (See attached file for routes.)
Mail addressed to currently flooded areas is to be held at the nearest USPS office unless the post office is in a high-risk area, in which case mail is to be transferred to the nearest safe post office, following standard interception procedures. (See attached file for routes.)
Residents can request mail to be forwarded to a different address or register for pick up at the nearest open Post Office.
-
Most people weren't really thinking about their mail when the shit started hitting the fan.
Let's be frank, I wouldn't either. If I still had family, or a house filled with stuff I cared about, I'dve been losing my damn mind. But all I had then— and, well, all I have now— is this job. And I take pride in it, God dammit. Even if nobody's payin' me anymore. Nobody's paying me to document all this, that's for sure. But some historian is gonna stumble upon this in a hundred years and thank me 'till the day they die, and that gives me at least a little joy for right now. Besides, what else do you expect me to do?
The post office I worked at was in Doral, so we were ordered to pack what we could and haul it all up. I've only been a few times, when they needed some extra staff for something. 80-something post offices, all crowded into a handful of them up in Pembroke Pines. We were lucky, we got transfered to one in Plantation.
God, that was miserable. Hours of sorting through mail, trying to determine what priority everything was. Granted, it could have been worse. Most Valentines mail had already been delivered, and that's really when we get the bulk of our mail, besides the holidays. Nobody appreciates the value of a handwritten letter anymore unless it's for those capitalistic monolith we call a "holiday." Nowadays, mail is for stuff that you can't send over via 3D printer, or your Amazon packages. Postcards and letters and bills and all that junk, that's all digital now.
Most incoming mail to South Florida had been paused, so at least it was a finite number of parcels. Still, a lotta packages ain't getting delivered, that's for sure. Mostly junk, though, the kind of shit you'd throw away anyways. There was one that caught my eye though. Little yellow envelope covered in stickers, addressed to someone in New York. Technically it ain't "high-priority," but… well, like I said. Nobody hand-writes letters anymore. So I brought it with me.
-
02/21/40
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 5.2 feet as of Feburary 21st, 2040, and are predicted to reach 6.5 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
High priority mail is to be moved continuously to safe post offices. Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
USPS has provided instructional guides on recovering damaged mail in the cases where the flood has impacted post offices.
- RecoveringPaperMail.pdf
- RecoveringHAZMAT.pdf
- RecoveringPerishableGoods.pdf
- RepackagingDamagedMail.pdf
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
Complete bullshit. All the post offices were filled up with everyone's damn mail. It was like squeezing a heifer through a closed cattle shoot.
We had to move again, a little higher this time. There's no space in the offices there at this point so we were just doin' our best to keep it safe from the rain in the back of our vans with tarps.
Unfortunately I can't archive any of these pdfs— they're all gone now. I do think the perishable goods one was pretty darn funny, because it basically just said "don't bother." The instructions for paper mail mentioned shit like drying racks, as if we had the space for that. Even said something about heaters, if I remember right. Right, sure, the heater that we definitely have in our office in South Florida.
Each notice came with an attachment of zip codes, showing which areas were high and low risk. Of course, zip codes don't mean much no more, but I've included them in the full files if you wanna flip through 'em.
-
02/21/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 6 feet as of Feburary 21st, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
Really, it's on me for thinking we'd do this with any semblance of organization. Shit kept getting worse, and with nothing but radio silence we've just been doing our best.
My coworkers slowly started giving up. I don't resent them for not showing, of course. If I still had a family I'd be runnin' with them as well.
Still holding on to the yellow envelope.
-
02/23/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 6.7 feet as of Feburary 23th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7.2 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
By now I was starting to dread these messages. Nothing new, no support, just endless movement. It's tiring. I don't remember sleeping around then. I don't remember changing out of my uniform, much less having the time to wash it.
I didn't have anyone back home waiting for me. After a while, I stopped having a home at all. I'd been towing around a backpack with my life in it— important documents, chargers, some extra clothes— and sleepin' among the mail. I figure most folks would have trouble choosing what to keep in their own little backpack, but me? Pickin' and choosin' what I was gonna take from my small apartment wasn't too hard.
Still had that little yellow envelope too. Got all busted up in my bag, but still good enough to mail out when I could.
-
02/25/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 7 feet as of Feburary th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7.5 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
They didn't even bother to put the date on this one.
-
05/13/40
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 8 feet as of…
-
I'll be honest with you, I cut out a few emails. You ain't missing much. I'm not includin' the rest of that one, actually. I'm kinda tired.
They sent out boats to collect whatever mail was left. I don't think the guy who They didn't consider that little yellow envelope important enough to take with, so I've still got it.
All my coworkers went back to their families by now; the county's got a hold of the important packages, and everything else was left here. I'm not getting paid to be here anymore, of course, but… well, what else am I supposed to do with all this time on my hands?
I've still got the login to the system, and it's all the same no matter what post office you're at, so I can at least try and keep a record of what I've got here. I can scan the packages, put em in the system, let folks know they're here.
It's just me, so maybe I'll stagger em? If I get a bunch of people all comin' in at once I'm gonna be wrecked. I'm pretty good with a spreadsheet, I'll get that set up. Luckily nobody turned off the electricity, but I'm prepping for the worst- printing everything out. On label printers. Because I can't find the ink for the regular printer, and also that darn thing is ancient. Fun times!
I've been sticking 'em on the table. I'll send emails when I can, texts if they're lucky.
Unfortunately no return address on our little yellow envelope, so I can't contact whoever sent it. But I'll be damned if I can't get it to New York, one way or another. I might know a guy who knows a guy who could get it up there.
Maybe I'll get it up there myself. Think I could steal one of the mail trucks? Think they'll pay for the gas?
Nah…
Might get a boating license though.
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 5 feet as of Feburary 20th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 6 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Effective immediately:
Post offices that are in high-risk areas are to vacate immediately with the following high priority mail:
- Cremated Remains
- Live Animals
- Military & Diplomatic Mail
Lower priority mail is to be transferred to the nearest safe post office, following standard interception procedures. (See attached file for routes.)
Mail addressed to currently flooded areas is to be held at the nearest USPS office unless the post office is in a high-risk area, in which case mail is to be transferred to the nearest safe post office, following standard interception procedures. (See attached file for routes.)
Residents can request mail to be forwarded to a different address or register for pick up at the nearest open Post Office.
-
Most people weren't really thinking about their mail when the shit started hitting the fan.
Let's be frank, I wouldn't either. If I still had family, or a house filled with stuff I cared about, I'dve been losing my damn mind. But all I had then— and, well, all I have now— is this job. And I take pride in it, God dammit. Even if nobody's payin' me anymore. Nobody's paying me to document all this, that's for sure. But some historian is gonna stumble upon this in a hundred years and thank me 'till the day they die, and that gives me at least a little joy for right now. Besides, what else do you expect me to do?
The post office I worked at was in Doral, so we were ordered to pack what we could and haul it all up. I've only been a few times, when they needed some extra staff for something. 80-something post offices, all crowded into a handful of them up in Pembroke Pines. We were lucky, we got transfered to one in Plantation.
God, that was miserable. Hours of sorting through mail, trying to determine what priority everything was. Granted, it could have been worse. Most Valentines mail had already been delivered, and that's really when we get the bulk of our mail, besides the holidays. Nobody appreciates the value of a handwritten letter anymore unless it's for those capitalistic monolith we call a "holiday." Nowadays, mail is for stuff that you can't send over via 3D printer, or your Amazon packages. Postcards and letters and bills and all that junk, that's all digital now.
Most incoming mail to South Florida had been paused, so at least it was a finite number of parcels. Still, a lotta packages ain't getting delivered, that's for sure. Mostly junk, though, the kind of shit you'd throw away anyways. There was one that caught my eye though. Little yellow envelope covered in stickers, addressed to someone in New York. Technically it ain't "high-priority," but… well, like I said. Nobody hand-writes letters anymore. So I brought it with me.
-
02/21/40
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 5.2 feet as of Feburary 21st, 2040, and are predicted to reach 6.5 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
High priority mail is to be moved continuously to safe post offices. Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
USPS has provided instructional guides on recovering damaged mail in the cases where the flood has impacted post offices.
- RecoveringPaperMail.pdf
- RecoveringHAZMAT.pdf
- RecoveringPerishableGoods.pdf
- RepackagingDamagedMail.pdf
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
Complete bullshit. All the post offices were filled up with everyone's damn mail. It was like squeezing a heifer through a closed cattle shoot.
We had to move again, a little higher this time. There's no space in the offices there at this point so we were just doin' our best to keep it safe from the rain in the back of our vans with tarps.
Unfortunately I can't archive any of these pdfs— they're all gone now. I do think the perishable goods one was pretty darn funny, because it basically just said "don't bother." The instructions for paper mail mentioned shit like drying racks, as if we had the space for that. Even said something about heaters, if I remember right. Right, sure, the heater that we definitely have in our office in South Florida.
Each notice came with an attachment of zip codes, showing which areas were high and low risk. Of course, zip codes don't mean much no more, but I've included them in the full files if you wanna flip through 'em.
-
02/21/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 6 feet as of Feburary 21st, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
Really, it's on me for thinking we'd do this with any semblance of organization. Shit kept getting worse, and with nothing but radio silence we've just been doing our best.
My coworkers slowly started giving up. I don't resent them for not showing, of course. If I still had a family I'd be runnin' with them as well.
Still holding on to the yellow envelope.
-
02/23/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 6.7 feet as of Feburary 23th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7.2 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
By now I was starting to dread these messages. Nothing new, no support, just endless movement. It's tiring. I don't remember sleeping around then. I don't remember changing out of my uniform, much less having the time to wash it.
I didn't have anyone back home waiting for me. After a while, I stopped having a home at all. I'd been towing around a backpack with my life in it— important documents, chargers, some extra clothes— and sleepin' among the mail. I figure most folks would have trouble choosing what to keep in their own little backpack, but me? Pickin' and choosin' what I was gonna take from my small apartment wasn't too hard.
Still had that little yellow envelope too. Got all busted up in my bag, but still good enough to mail out when I could.
-
02/25/40
Sea levels have currently risen approximately 7 feet as of Feburary th, 2040, and are predicted to reach 7.5 feet by March 2nd, 2040.
Please see the updated list of high and low risk areas.
Thank you for your service.
-
They didn't even bother to put the date on this one.
-
05/13/40
The purpose of this publication is for outlining the emergency guidelines following the Feburary 20th 2040 flash flood impacting areas of Miami-Dade County. Sea levels have currently risen approximately 8 feet as of…
-
I'll be honest with you, I cut out a few emails. You ain't missing much. I'm not includin' the rest of that one, actually. I'm kinda tired.
They sent out boats to collect whatever mail was left. I don't think the guy who They didn't consider that little yellow envelope important enough to take with, so I've still got it.
All my coworkers went back to their families by now; the county's got a hold of the important packages, and everything else was left here. I'm not getting paid to be here anymore, of course, but… well, what else am I supposed to do with all this time on my hands?
I've still got the login to the system, and it's all the same no matter what post office you're at, so I can at least try and keep a record of what I've got here. I can scan the packages, put em in the system, let folks know they're here.
It's just me, so maybe I'll stagger em? If I get a bunch of people all comin' in at once I'm gonna be wrecked. I'm pretty good with a spreadsheet, I'll get that set up. Luckily nobody turned off the electricity, but I'm prepping for the worst- printing everything out. On label printers. Because I can't find the ink for the regular printer, and also that darn thing is ancient. Fun times!
I've been sticking 'em on the table. I'll send emails when I can, texts if they're lucky.
Unfortunately no return address on our little yellow envelope, so I can't contact whoever sent it. But I'll be damned if I can't get it to New York, one way or another. I might know a guy who knows a guy who could get it up there.
Maybe I'll get it up there myself. Think I could steal one of the mail trucks? Think they'll pay for the gas?
Nah…
Might get a boating license though.
Collection
Citation
Kai Ruiz, “February-March 2040 Flash Flood Mail Alerts,” Everything Speaks To Me , accessed September 18, 2026, https://everythingspeakstome.com/items/show/459.