CHARLESTON, S.C.—With a storm surge expected to rival that of Hurricane Hugo two decades ago, Hurricane Dorian has had credit unions in the Carolinas closing offices and preparing for the worst, although most CU offices are expected to be open today.
In advance off the now high Category 2 Dorian’s arrival in the Carolinas, a number of credit unions had closed Thursday, as CUToday.info reported here.
With a storm surge expected to be greater than 10 feet, Dorian flooded parts of downtown Charleston, S.C. with a combination of storm surge and. The storm is likely to buffet the entire Carolinas coastline through the first half of Friday before it moves on to coastal Virginia today.
“At this time we don’t have any reports on the storm damage to credit unions in the affected areas. We do continue to field reports…” stated Courtney Jackson, director of communications at the Carolinas Credit Union League.
Prepared to Help
The league said its Carolinas Foundation is prepared to disburse aid to any disaster-stricken credit union employees and volunteers through its disaster relief grant application process. Applications must be saved to a device, completed, signed, and emailed to CCUF President Lauren Whaley. The Carolinas Foundation also is ready to receive contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund. Any donation collected is disbursed dollar-for-dollar to aid in disaster recovery.
CUNA Mutual Group's Disaster Response Team is also ready to respond should any credit unions need assistance, the league said.
Dorian is hitting the U.S. eastern seaboard after devastating the Bahamas, killing at least 20 people. As CUToday.info reported, the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions said it has initiated its first Project Storm Break response to assist credit unions and members hit hard by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.
As CUToday.info also reported, the World Council continues to reach out to credit unions in the Bahamas to assess storm damage, but communication has been difficult. There are nine credit unions in the country.