Hurricane Michael shuts down credit unions across Florida, Alabama

Credit unions along Florida’s panhandle and beyond are bracing for Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday.

Governors in Florida and Alabama have declared states of emergency while the League of Southeastern Credit Unions has shuttered its Tallahassee office until later this week. LSCU’s Birmingham, Ala. office will remain open.

The National Credit Union Administration maintains a hurricane information website with information on preparedness and disaster recovery for credit unions and members in the storm’s path, and NCUA said Tuesday it will be ready to assist CUs with maintaining or restoring operations if necessary.

NCUA’s Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion will also be providing urgent needs grants up to $7,500 for low-income-designated credit unions that need assistance paying to restore operations interrupted by the storm.

Credit unions throughout both states are closing branches in advance of the storm, which the National Weather Service warns could have “life-threatening storm surge,” along with the possibility of tornadoes and inland flash flooding due to heavy rainfall.

Recent estimates have suggested the storm could impact as many as 57,000 homes, with one worst-case scenario pegging reconstruction costs as high as $13.4 billion.

While that could lead to lending opportunities for credit unions, a number of CUs throughout the region have temporarily shut their doors in preparation for the hurricane. Among them:

• The $96 million-asset Buckeye Community Federal Credit Union of Perry, Fla., said its offices in Perry and Madison will be closed on October 10 and plan to re-open on October 11 at 1 p.m.

• The $48 million-asset Emerald Coast Federal Credit Union of Port St. Joe, Fla., will be closed October 10.

• All branches of the $407 million-asset Five Star Credit Union of Dothan, Ala., will be closed October 10. Their current plan is to re-open October 11, subject to weather.

• The Defuniak Springs and Santa Rosa Beach branches of the $1.26 billion-asset Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union of Daleville, Ala., will be closed on October 10.

• All branches of the $186 million-asset Panhandle Educators FCU closed at 1 PM on October 9, and will remain closed until after the storm.

• The $560 million-asset Envision Credit Union of Tallahassee, Fla., will be closed October 10 and October 11, while the $85 million-asset Okaloosa County Teachers Federal Credit Union of Crestview, Fla., will be closed October 10.

• All locations of the $583 million-asset First Commerce Credit Union of Tallahassee (except the branch in Valdosta, Ga.), will be on closed on October 10.