The National Credit Union Administration has announced a new disaster response system, the Incident Management System, which will utilize real-time information to enhance the agency's efforts when unfortunate events occur.
In the past, the NCUA utilized a manual information-gathering method to survey the operations of credit unions in a disaster-stricken area, usually following the brunt of a disaster. The new system "allows NCUA staff to rapidly locate all credit union facilities that may have been affected by a disaster, like a hurricane or a wildfire, and track their operational status throughout the course of a disaster and its recovery," the
Although the system does not fully remove the need for person-to-person contact during a disaster to evaluate an institution's levels of operation, the system is intended to make the information-sharing process more efficient and able to be quickly disseminated. The system will improve awareness of which institutions are affected, reduce the need to manually contact a credit union during and after a disaster, and improve technical assistance to those affected, NCUA said.
The incident management system will use information gathered from outside resources such as the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the robust information housed in the Credit Union Online system, which the NCUA emphasized should be maintained and updated regularly by all CUs.
The NCUA requests the following information from credit unions during emergencies:
- Specific description of damage to credit union facilities;
- Specific member services that are offline;
- An estimate of when the affected location will be re-opening;
- Specific details of any assistance needed from NCUA;
- A contact number for members if the normal business number is not working;
- A contact number – such as a cell phone or out-of-area number – that the agency can use to reach key credit union staff during and after the disaster.
"During a disaster, time is critical. NCUA's new Incident Management System will greatly improve our ability to help credit unions manage and recover. This in turn, will help credit unions better serve their members and their communities as they recover," the agency said.
