Many CUs In New Orleans Lack InformationOn Status

BATON ROUGE, La. - (09/03/05) The Louisiana Credit Union League hasmanaged to contact of 20 of the 45 to 50 credit unions located inNew Orleans, and so far the reports are largely positive, accordingto LCUL's Alicia Blanda, who called The Credit Union Journal whiledriving from Tifton, Ga., where she and her family rode out thestorm, to Jackson, Miss., where she hoped to rendezvous with theMississippi league staff. “I'm not hearing about anythingcatastrophic, but that's mostly because even though we've contactedthe people who run these credit unions, they, like us, have notbeen able to get in to see what's left,” Blanda explained.“We are working on a list of where credit unions have set uptemporary operations. Everyone seems really upbeat. The attitudeis, this is what has been thrown at us, and we'll do the best wecan. This is what've got do to, and we're going to do it.”While Blanda was hoping to work out of the Mississippi leagueoffices for a day or two, the rest of her family was going tocontinue on to her mother's Gulfport, Miss., home to see what-ifanything-is left of it. Then they will all head towards BatonRouge, La., and, as Blanda put it, “we'll just see how farwe're able to get.”