In related news, NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson said in recalling last year's Hurricane Katrina on the anniversary of the historic storm, “The hurricane was one of the deadliest and most costly natural disasters in American history and brought many challenges to credit unions throughout the devastated area. By facing and overcoming these challenges, America's credit unions have proven to be as resilient as their members, and confidence in the viability of the credit union system has never been stronger.” President George W. Bush proclaimed Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006, a National Day of Remembrance of Hurricane Katrina.

She remembered her awe at the devastation Katrina left behind and how credit unions joined together to face the challenge. “Yet in the midst of this tragedy, credit unions called upon a reservoir of perseverance, courage and resourcefulness to continue serving their members. We can all be very proud of how credit unions worked with NCUA and other government officials, trade associations and vendors toward the common goal of restoring basic financial services to those affected by Hurricane Katrina,” Johnson said. “I was especially inspired by credit union staff who, despite being personally impacted by the Hurricane, made the continued operation of their credit union a priority.”

NCUA worked closely with the impacted credit unions to ensure they had the proper resources and maintained safe and sound operation. At that time, the agency temporarily allowed federal credit unions to provide emergency services to credit unions in need, including check cashing and ATM access, worked with corporate credit unions to guarantee loans to meet settlement demands on impacted credit unions, and allocated $120,000 from the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund for low-income credit unions in the affected area, among other things. “As we move forward from last year's hurricanes, it is vital that we apply lessons learned in order to better prepare for future emergencies,” Johnson reminded. NCUA has encouraged credit unions to participate in the Treasury Department's GoDirect initiative, for direct deposit of Social Security funds and joined with other government entities and non-profits focusing on volunteer emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, direct economic assistance and revitalization. For more information regarding volunteer opportunities, please visit www.usafreedomcorps.gov and www.operationhope.org. –[email protected]