In many people's minds, a large-scale natural disaster is something that's observed from afar, most likely on TV or online. It's something they believe won't ever happen to them and can't fathom the true reality of, neither practically nor emotionally.
For credit union professionals in the Houston area who lived with this mentality, everything changed a couple of weeks ago.
On Sunday, Aug. 27, as Hurricane Harvey began pounding the Gulf Coast of Texas, the Cornerstone Credit Union League reported 20 credit unions had closed. By Friday of that week, that number had risen to 65. Some credit union branches operated on generator power and many employees worked remotely to post member transactions, although power outages often interrupted their efforts. ATMs in the area that flooded may need to be replaced, and some call centers were forced to shut down. Executives also voiced concerns about the safety of credit union employees who trekked through flooded streets to get to work.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
