When Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on Oct. 29, Tracy Sussmann President / CEO at $17 million MidState Federal Credit Union in Carteret, N.J. was already making plans to reopen for her storm-stricken members.

MidState is located next to a bay where floodwaters rose three feet into the streets during high tide. By Friday, Nov. 2, Sussmann's  small team carried lanterns, blankets, extra coats and gloves and unlocked the doors and opened for business.

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 "We've prepared for a disaster and now we know it works," Sussmann said. "We made it through the storm on Monday and Tuesday and by Wednesday we were making plans to reopen. Our members needed cash and we were determined to give it to them."

Sussmann said that her employees were lucky and only reported minor damage to their own homes, although the neighborhood where MidState FCU is located was hit hard and one member's home blew up. The costs of the hurricane are still rising but officials agree that Hurricane Sandy would become one of the 10 costliest hurricanes in the United States, according to the Insurance Information Institute.