ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Even though Hurricane Isabel did not seem topack quite the punch the East Coast had braced for, NCUA hasactivated its disaster relief policy to help affected credit unionsin the wake of the storm. According to NCUA's announcement, theFederal Emergency Management Agency has designated Delaware,Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. aseligible for aid. NCUA examiners and staff are communicatingclosely with federal credit unions in those areas to determineimmediate needs and provide advice and assistance. NCUA will, asneeded, encourage credit unions to make loans with special termsand reduced documentation to members whose homes and property aredamaged; reschedule routine examinations; and guarantee lines ofcredit through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund andthe Central Liquidity Facility. NCUA operates under threepriorities in disaster conditions: * Ensure the safety of creditunion staff. * Keep facilities and operations available to members.* Provide material and technical assistance, as needed, to affectedcredit unions. CUNA Mutual Media Relations Senior Manager RickUhlmann told Credit Union Times that the company has not seen anymajor claim losses from credit unions due to Isabel. Several creditunion branches had some flooding, but most damages have beenrelated to power outages and water damage. “[R]elative to theoverall damage caused by the storm, we are seeing minimal claimsfrom credit unions,” he said. Eight losses have been reported sofar, and more may “trickle in,” but CUNA Mutual is not expectingany significant numbers. Even though Navy Federal Credit Union'sbranches in the Virginia Beach area prepared for the worst, allthey got was a little soggy. Their power was down for a couple ofdays, but the branches were up and running again on Monday, NavyFederal Spokesperson Loren Moeller said. An ATM was flooded at thebranch at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., but that was theextent of it, she explained, even though the academy itselfsustained about $15 million in damages. According to North CarolinaLeague President Larry Johnson, all but a couple of credit unionsare in good shape. He said that a handful are still without power,a branch of State Employees Credit Union had “modest damage,” andhe had not yet heard from some credit unions in the Elizabeth Cityarea. Johnson added that some employees' homes experienced somedamage. The Maryland Credit Union League's JoAnn Stallings saidthat some credit unions are still closed because of power outages,but the league was unsure of who was still in the dark because avirus hit their e-mail system and shut down access. Virginia CreditUnion League CEO Rick Pillow said, “Our initial assessment ispretty good as far as structural damage.” However, hundreds ofthousands of Virginia residents were still without power atdeadline. The hardest hit Newport News and Hampton areas had somecredit union branches up and running and Northern Virginia waslooking good, he said. A shared branch in Yorktown was closed as oflast Tuesday because the power was still out and shared branches inChesapeake and Colonial Heights were running off-line. He addedthat the Washington, D.C. league, which he is also responsible for,reported all but one credit union up and running due to a poweroutage. [email protected]