In a "very unusual" situation, a group of hard-working postal carriers has volunteered to work Sunday in Casper to help deliver mail held up by the blizzard in Denver, postmaster Susan Gray said today.

Still, mail coming in from out of state through Denver may not all make it by the holiday.

And whether outgoing mail could make it to its destination by Christmas depends on where it's going and how much customers are willing to pay.

Gray helped one upset customer this morning in Casper, who couldn't understand why mail couldn't be delivered to Denver by tomorrow. A huge blizzard shut down the city and the Denver International Airport, which is supposed to open Friday at noon, according to the Denver Post.

Unless mail is sent Express Mail, where it's flown directly out of Casper to Memphis, "Chances aren't looking so good right now" for getting long-distance packages sent by Christmas, Gray said.

The Billings post office has been extremely helpful and is sending trucks this afternoon to pick up Casper's outgoing mail, currently sorted and sitting in bins, Gray said.

At the UPS hub in Casper, manager John Cooper said, "The loads from Denver did not make it here today."

Packages dropped off by today will be diverted through Billings.

"They'll be a day late but they'll get there before Christmas," he said.

He said he's been scrambling to get the contingency plan under way but things are pretty slow today. It should be busy again as soon as the backed-up packages come through, and drivers will be working Saturday to help get packages out.

For more of this and other stories read Friday's Casper Star-Tribune.