TALLAHASSEE, Fla.–The back-to-back hurricanes that have struck the U.S. have credit unions assessing damage in Florida, while a credit unions-helping-credit unions initiative has been launched in Texas.
Hurricane Irma has affected nearly all of the 136 credit unions in Florida in some fashion and is now in Georgia and headed north, as millions of people remain without electricity as they work to begin the clean-up.
Irma, which killed four people in Florida and 27 people across the Caribbean, has resulted in numerous branch closures. The League of Southeastern Credit Unions has closed its offices in Tallahassee, Fla. on Monday and Tuesday, and is operating from its offices in Birmingham, Ala., according to Communications Director Kim Gay.
Meanwhile, two credit unions that serve residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where conditions have been very difficult following Hurricane Irma, said they have re-opened their offices and are now serving members.
In Key West, Fla., Keys Federal Credit Union was urging members to “please be patient.”
“We are working to restore our disaster recovery site from Key West,” the credit union said in a statement on its website. “Please do not attempt to sign on until this message is removed or you will lock yourself out.”
Keys FCU closed its branches on Wednesday of last week as part of a mandatory evacuation of the Florida keys.
Update from Virgin Islands
According to Fairhope, Ala.-based CU*SOUTH, the data processor for Frederiksted FCU, which serves 3,000 members on the western side of St. Croix, and Christiansted FCU, which serves 3,300 members on the eastern end of the island, both CUs are operating.
“Eleven months ago, our credit union converted from an in-house core software to a cloud-based solution,” said Patrice Canton, CEO of Frederiksted FCU. “This was a critical component of our disaster recovery planning, since we no longer had to worry about storing our members’ data in-house. We knew that it was being managed at a secure datacenter, and our members continued to have access to their accounts 24x7 via online banking and text. Internet service was up and down during the storm, but text service remained operational most of the time.”
“We learned from our recent response to Hurricane Harvey,” said Margie Walker-Horsch, director of managed services at CU*SOUTH, Frederiksted’s service provider. “Within hours, we added resources to our call center to support the additional member service requests, and updated our Rules of Engagement documents to address this specific contingency.”
New 'Community' is Launched
Meanwhile, in Plano, Texas, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Cornerstone Credit Union League said it is joining with CUNA to launch an online community through which credit unions and system friends can connect and help each other when natural disasters strike.
“Through the community, organizations nationwide can post available services and resources, which will be matched to needs identified by affected credit unions,” the CCUL and CUNA said.
The community also includes a discussion board to share ideas, experiences and stories.
“The past two weeks have provided me with reinvigorated hope in mankind and in our credit union system despite some incredibly dark and difficult times in Southeast Texas,” said Cornerstone Credit Union League President/CEO Caroline Willard. “But we know that this is not a crisis that will dissipate overnight or in the coming days. Recovery for this area of our region will last years and the effects of the hurricane and the ensuing flood waters will last a very long time.”
"Credit unions are better together, as our collective efforts and financial support have shown in recent days," said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We are here to help bring needed resources to credit unions in Texas and Florida, and have a system in place to help other credit unions in the future."
While the National Credit Union Foundation's online disaster relief system, CUAid, has proven to be an effective source of financial support for credit unions in times of need--raising more than $1 million in the less than a week after Hurricane Harvey--previous disasters have shown that affected credit unions also require more immediate logistic and tactical assistance, such as mobile ATMs, mobile branches, generators, phones, laptops, and onsite or remote operational assistance, in addition to temporary relocation.
CUAid.coop Now Collecting Funds for Irma Victims
The National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation), which has been collecting funds for victims of Harvey, said it has also activated its online disaster relief system CUAid.coop to raise money for credit union people affected by Hurricane Irma. Credit union supporters in every state can make donations at cuaid.coop.
The Foundation said it is also still accepting funds to help with the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Harvey, and is working with the Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation to disburse funds to many of the thousands of credit union employees and volunteers affected.
“Late last week, we surpassed over $1 million in contributions for both CUAid and Cornerstone efforts to help credit union people put their life back together after Tropical Storm Harvey,” said Foundation Communications Director Christopher Morris. “According to the latest reports, up to 15,000 credit union employees are in Hurricane Irma’s path. Having two large-scale disaster relief campaigns open simultaneously is unprecedented, therefore please know that any and all donations to CUAid will make a profound difference to your credit union colleagues in need.”
As donations are posted through CUAid.coop for Hurricane Irma relief, the National Credit Union Foundation said it will coordinate with the Southeastern Credit Union Foundation in the disaster area to distribute money efficiently to affected credit union employees and volunteers.