CUNA Mutual Group said on Aug. 31st that it had received 23 claims from credit unions affected by Hurricane Harvey.
And while Houston and most of southeastern Texas continued to dry out, the number of reported credit union closures increased slightly from 60 on Aug. 31 to 65 on Sept. 1, according to the Cornerstone Credit Union League in Plano, Texas.
The 23 claims, up from 11 claims reported on Aug. 28, were "not catastrophic at this time," Wendy Serafin, a spokesperson for CUNA Mutual in Madison, Wis., said.
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"We anticipate claims volume and severity to increase in the coming days as credit unions are able to access their branches," Serafin said. "We have five CUNA Mutual Group team members on the ground, and we have brought on additional resources to assist with a swift response."
CUNA Mutual set up a mobile headquarters at the Home Depot in Corpus Christi, Texas and hired additional claims adjusters to help manage the expected volume of claims.
Hurricane Harvey dumped 51 inches of rain, claimed 46 lives and caused billions of dollars in property damage and economic losses, according to national media reports.
After taking an aerial tour on Aug. 31, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reported the city is mostly dry, though the Kingwood and west Houston areas still had flooding problems.
About 100 miles east of Houston, the city of Beaumont, hit by more than 26 inches of rain on Aug. 30, lost its water service. On Aug. 31, the city's main water pumps failed, leaving the city of more than 118,000 residents without safe drinking water. City officials said they were working around the clock to restore the water pumps and reminded residents to boil their water.
Despite this hardship, a few of Beaumont's 13 credit unions, such as DuGood Federal Credit Union, SAFE Credit Union and CommonCents Credit Union, reopened their drive-thru services. Education First Federal Credit Union reopened two of its Beaumont branches and a drive-thru service at another branch.
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