"The whole island is without power," said Jeanne Kucey, president/CEO of JetStream Federal Credit Union. JetStream FCU, headquartered in Miami, Fla., has a branch located in Carolina, Puerto Rico which is just east of San Juan.
Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph.
CU Times has been reaching out to credit union officials and sources, but has received very few updates and details from the island regarding credit union employees, damage to branches and the status of recovery efforts.
Officials from WOCCU and CUNA are equally in the dark and they do not expect to have an update from the island for another day or more.
In an email sent to CU Times from NCUA spokesperson John Fairbanks, it states, "While NCUA is monitoring the situation with credit unions in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Maria has knocked out power and disrupted communications, so it is likely to be 24 to 48 hours before an accurate assessment can be made. Several of these islands were devastated when Hurricane Irma swept through, making recovery even more difficult."
Late in the afternoon Wednesday, Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello declared an island-wide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. through at least Saturday. According to Rossello's office, power is out 100% across the island and looting is a concern.
Kucey, in a brief email conversation with CU Times, stated "the branch team checked in safe last night. Cell service is spotty so hopefully they'll be able to check in again tonight."
As other national media outlets have reported, flooding is another concern for the Puerto Rican population. "Our branch manager called in at 10 a.m. and reported that her home was starting to flood," Kucey stated.
CU Times will update this developing story as we receive information from Puerto Rico.
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