DES MOINES, Iowa – A massive winter storm that affected nearly two-thirds of the country left entire states paralyzed and shuttered credit unions across swaths of the Midwest yesterday.
“There have been all kinds of closings today,” Iowa Credit Union League Director of Public Affairs and Marketing Emily Oliver said Wednesday. Oliver was working from home when Credit Union Journal contacted her as more than a foot of snow had dropped on the region and other wintry conditions had left roads impassable. “It’s really the wind that is so awful. There is basically zero visibility when you get on the streets. None of the side streets are plowed and even the highways are basically shut down,” she said.
Winds gusted over 45 mph across the Midwest, creating 3-foot to 4-foot-high drifts and making it dangerous for snow plows and salt trucks to try and clear the roadways. A number of Iowa credit unions shut all of their branches for the day, including Greater Iowa CU and the state’s largest cooperative, Waterloo-based Veridian CU.
The blizzard shut down financial operations across Wisconsin. The state’s league was closed for the entire day due to the storm, as were all branches at UW Credit Union and Summit CU, among others.
Upstate New York, frequently a target of major snowstorms, emerged largely unscathed. Credit Union Association of New York senior writer Mindi Schwab said the area received about seven inches of snow but avoided much of the “dangerous icy mix” that had been forecasted. Snow plows and salt crews were able to clear much of the roadways by midday and she had not heard from any CUs that had closed their doors or even delayed openings.
Credit unions and leagues in the heartland that shut their doors Wednesday expect to resume normal operations today.
