BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Secure First CU lost at least half its roof and at least one other credit union was temporarily without power here yesterday after severe storms that killed at least two people and injured more than 100 moved across central Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee early Monday morning. One credit union employee also lost their home.
The main office of $47-million Secure First was deemed about a 75% loss, according to its president, Jordan Sullivan, who said despite the gloomy estimate by the city, the location should be operating again in about six to eight weeks.
“That really surprised me when contractors told me they would have us back that soon,” Sullivan told Credit Union Journal yesterday during a break from cleaning up the office. “Most of the damage was water related. We will need to replace a lot of sheet rock, the carpeting, ceiling tiles and part of the roof.”
The credit union was fortunate that its computer equipment and electronics received almost no damage. Sullivan said yesterday Secure First was in the middle of enacting its disaster recovery plan and getting its core processing system – located in the damaged building – back online. The system was expected to be operating again last night.
Sullivan said the credit union’s second Birmingham branch and a location in nearby Brookwood, Ala., will handle the extra load until a mobile branch arrives later next week. No employees or members were harmed.
While initial reports from the League of Southeastern CUs and neighboring credit unions indicated that no other CUs received damage, two branches of $388-million Legacy Community FCU were without power for several hours yesterday. A spokesperson from LCFCU said the credit union and its team were all fine. However the storm destroyed one employee’s home and ripped the roof off another staff member’s house.
