NCUA Activates HurricaneDrill

THE GULF COAST - (09/22/05) -- NCUA took a page from its HurricaneKatrina playbook and begin contacting all credit unions in Texasand Louisiana in the path of Hurricane Rita Wednesday. The federalregulator, fresh off its biggest disaster response ever afterKatrina, urged all credit union officials in the path of the newstorm to immediately review their emergency preparedness andbusiness continuity plans, to ensure their continued ability todeliver financial services to members. NCUA urged credit unions to:identify alternative sites for operation; maintain current systemback-up tapes; test their back-up systems to ensure properoperations; provide NCUA with alternative site locations, telephonenumbers and emergency management contact telephone numbers; andidentify employees who will take necessary data and/or equipment tothe alternate site. NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson said this week oneof the biggest lessons they learned while responding to HurricaneKatrina is the need to have pre-arranged contacts for every creditunions. The onrush of Hurricane Rita comes as NCUA is stillstruggling to get dozens of credit unions damaged by HurricaneKatrina back to full operations.