All its credit union clients in the path of Hurricane Sandy presently are closed, said Don Stewart, director of professional services for Hagerstown, Md.-based CUSO Ongoing Operations, which was formed to provide credit unions with business continuity planning tools.

He optimistically added: “Clients with business continuity plans will be able to reopen within an hour or two of the storm passing.”

Stewart said that on Friday Ongoing Operations reached out to its credit unions, to remind them to check the status of computer backups and also to review planning pertaining to employee and member health and safety.

“Health and safety really have to be paramount,” said Stewart, which is why his advice has been to close down and wait the storm out. That will let employees and members stay inside and, said Stewart, hopefully at a remove from the ravages of the storm.

Stewart stressed that business continuity planning for credit unions has become highly sophisticated. “We learn from each event,” said Stewart who said much was learned from last year's Hurricane Irene, for instance.

Stewart said his CUSO's clients will make case-by-case decisions whether to stay closed on Tuesday or to reopen. Those decisions will be informed by localized conditions and the extent of damages, if any, suffered by particular institutions.

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