NEW ORLEANS - As the southeast braces for a possible one-two-three punch from Hurricanes Hanna, Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine, other parts of the country are mopping up after Hurricane Gustav.
"From the reports we have gotten back thus far, our credit unions are doing well," said Jennifer Green, AVP of the Louisiana CU League, despite "massive power outages throughout the southern part of the state." At press time New Orleans was still shut down and CUs were up and running from temporary alternate locations.
Alabama credit unions came through very well, too, with no reports of damage, said Adena Whitman Zamora, director of public and political affairs for the Alabama CU League. The Texas league also reported no damage to CUs there.
Mississippi's CUs also fared "extremely well," Charles Elliott, CEO of the Mississippi CU Association said. "We were spared. We still had water and a lot of businesses and homes flooded, but it was minimal when you put it in contrast with Katrina. We had just a little wind and water."
But they also had the benefit of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. "We weren't prepared for Katrina," Elliott said. "No one was... We just weren't prepared like we were this time. We had everything in place." Among those lessons learned: the importance of communication, having back-up systems in place and alternative energy sources.
The Texas CU League CEO Dick Ensweiler noted TCUL developed its Disaster Preparation website from the lessons taught by Katrina. "We sent preparation documents to our membership early in 2006 and have done so each spring reminding them to pay close attention to what they and the members need," he said.
At press time, the southeast coast was preparing for the possibility of Hanna, Ike and Josephine.
With a state of emergency already in place in Florida, Florida CU League VP-Communications Amy Jowers reported "we have not yet received any word from Florida's Office of Financial Regulation issuing a proclamation allowing financial institutions to remain closed until emergency conditions have passed."
The South Carolina CU League was in the process of reviewing its disaster recovery plans, and updating all contacts lists last week. It also had a conference call planned with the NCUA and the state regulator to discuss preparations for Hurricane Hanna. "The experiences the gulf states had with Katrina taught us a lot," said Karin Curtis, communications specialist for the South Carolina CU League.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
