After a weekend of heavy flooding and torrential storms brought on by Hurricane Hermine, most of the credit union branches that were closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the hard-hit Florida Panhandle and northern Florida are now up and running, according to the Tallahassee-based League of Southeastern Credit Unions (LSCU).
Kim Gay, director of communications at LSCU (which also represents Alabama CUs), said the league reached out to all Florida credit unions prior to the storm to offer support and communication in response to Hermine.
LSCU's president and CEO Patrick La Pine stated after the hurricane moved through the Florida area: "When preparing for and dealing with a storm of this magnitude, safety is always the number one priority. Preparation and communication are crucial and the LSCU was able to act as a link between credit unions, resources and the public."
Because a hurricane has not made landfall in Florida for 11 years, LSCU said it felt it was important to push out reminders on preparing for major storms both at credit unions and employees' homes.
"This was done using our daily newsletter, through emails, website updates, social media and phone calls," Gay noted. "Some staff worked from their homes Friday, communicating with credit unions even while without power themselves. Credit union closures and special hours of operation were posted on the LSCU website as we were notified throughout the storm. While many credit unions were without power for several days, none have reported any major physical losses at this time."
Indeed, on Friday, almost two dozen area credit unions closed at least one or all of their branches due to the storm.
LSCU represents 261 credit unions with $76 billion in assets and more than 7 million members.
Impact on Georgia
While Florida received the brunt of Hermine, the storm also touched on Georgia, with many CU branches in the Savannah area closed on Friday as a result of the severe weather. But most were up and running as of Tuesday morning.
Trish Payne, president and CEO of the $29 million Savannah Schools Federal Credit Union, told Credit Union Journal that they did not put their "full disaster plan" into place for this storm.
"We are on the Atlantic Coast, [and] with [Hermine] making landfall on the Gulf Coast, the strength is greatly diminished by the time it reaches us," she said. CU officials monitored the storm predictions last week and mid-afternoon Thursday "made the decision to close our offices for Friday, due to the likelihood of tropical storm force winds coming in throughout Friday."
Payne noted that these types of winds usually involve downed trees and power lines, and there is an increased chance of tornadic activity.
"With the timing of this storm, we thought the safety of our staff and members was most important," Payne added. "Residents were being encouraged not to get on the roads. Also, schools and day care centers were closed also, which makes staffing an issue."
But Payne indicated that her area did not suffer a great deal of damage. "There were two tornados that touched down, causing damage, along with several trees and downed power lines," she explained. "Our credit union facilities and staff made it through with no damage."
Also, Savannah Schools has not had many complaints about being closed. "The worst thing is that it was a long weekend and the beginning of the month, when we are normally very bus," she said. "I really expected angry members [Tuesday] morning, however, I think most understand that we have no control over this type of thing. When we prepare for what may be a direct hit from a hurricane, we do a lot more in the way of getting ready."
A survey of other Savannah-area credit unions revealed that most of their branches were closed on Friday, but were open Tuesday. These institutions included the $25 million Members 1st CU; the $250,000 FAB Church FCU; the $7.6 million Mercy FCU; the $3.4 million Savastate Teachers FCU and the $66 million Workmen's Circle Inc.
As of Sunday, Georgia Power said it had restored electricity to about 130,000 customers in the Savannah area since Hermine hit the area early Friday morning.
Carolinas and Louisiana
A few credit unions in North and South Carolina closed their doors on Friday as a precaution, but a Carolinas CU League representative on Tuesday told CU Journal that there have been no reports yet of damage from the storm.
Earlier this summer, heavy storms forced 20 credit unions in Louisiana to close their branches and offices. Last week, the National Credit Union Foundation announced that the Foundation and the Louisiana CU League had raised more than $100,000 to benefit credit unions impacted by the flooding there.
--Eric Guldenstern contributed to this report
