LOUISVILLE, Ky.--An early report indicates Kentucky’s credit unions have survived the deadly tornadoes that ripped through six states in the Midwest, killing at least 70 in the Bluegrass State. The fate of some of their members will become clearer this week.
The storms that dropped 80 tornadoes across Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee, killed at least 80 people, and up to a half-million people were without power at one point in those states plus portions of Michigan and Ohio.
Several tornadoes touched down in Kentucky, one of them traveling for more than 200 miles, with Mayfield, Ky., the city of approximately 10,000 people in the western corner of the state, the hardest hit town. Mayfield is home to one credit union, the $25-million Your Hometown FCU.
Kentucky CU League President Debbie Painter told CUToday.info everyone at the league is fine.
"The storms hit south and west of us. We’ve communicated with the credit unions in those areas and as far as we know now, no big damage to any credit union and employees are all safe. Power/internet and phone outages are challenging. Communities have been obliterated and face a long recovery," she said. "We’ll be checking back in with everyone in a couple days. We want to give them time to absorb what’s happened and assess their needs."
In Edwardsville, Ill., six people were killed inside an Amazon delivery warehouse that was hit directly by a tornado. Edwardsville is home to two credit unions, Scott Credit Union and SIUE Credit Union.