NEW YORK-Kam Wong was sitting at his desk last month when the tall plants in his office began to sway and papers fell off his briefcase-the CEO of Municipal CU immediately thought back to Sept. 11, 2001.
"There wasn't an explosion so I knew there could not have been a bomb, but still I had a flashback," said Wong about the earthquake that recently shook the Northeast. "To this day when I hear a loud noise, or something like this happens, I think about September 11."
The memory of the World Trade Center attacks remain vivid with Wong, who was in his fifth-floor office across from the Trade Center 10 years ago and watched the second plane strike the South Tower. "Then I saw a big fireball coming toward me. I dropped the phone and got out of my office."
When the first plane hit the North Tower and Wong learned what had happened, he was part of the leadership team that helped staff exit the building. Wong was EVP/CFO at the time and became CEO in 2007. "I went floor by floor and asked everyone to leave." Wong then went back to his office before the second attack.
When the earthquake struck last month, Wong said that experiencing 9/11 made him calmer in the face of potential danger, which helped him lead the evacuation of his staff after the recent earthquake. "It taught me to be even more focused and show no signs of fear. I know if employees see any signs of panic from me that will raise their level of concern."
'Toughened By The Experience'
Wong said the latest evacuation, during the earthquake, was very orderly and staff were calm. Following 9/11, MCU improved its disaster recovery and building evacuation plans, testing both regularly. "We now have a real-time backup recovery system that can have the credit union up and running one hour after an event," said Wong. "Our employees too, those who are still with us 10 years after Sept. 11, have become toughened by the experience and perform well each time we have to evacuate."
The $1.7-billion MCU had to evacuate its New York headquarters twice during 2003 due to a bomb scare and then a widespread power outage.
Looking at the balance sheet, 9/11 cost MCU nearly $2 million due to members needing cash quickly, the CU obliging, and some having overdrawn accounts and running into money problems. Wong said that was money well spent to help people manage their way through a terrible crisis.
But the losses incurred following 9/11 that Wong thinks about are not on his CU's books. "What I think about most are the employees and members who lost loved ones in the attacks. Those are losses you can't place a dollar value on."
