Florida, Alabama League, Credit Unions Prepare for Hurricane Michael

The League of Southeastern Credit Unions in Tallahassee and numerous credit unions said today they will close their branches and offices at noon or 1 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed through Thursday because of the state of emergency that has been declared for Alabama and Florida as Hurricane Michael continues to gather strength and is expected to be life threatening, cause flooding and widespread power outages.

Credit unions that have announced branch and office closures starting at noon or 1 p.m. today are Tyndall FCU, Panhandle Educators FCU, Flag CU, Innovations FCU, Bay CU, Emerald Coast FCU, FAMU FCU, Tallahassee-Leon FCU, TMH FCU, Florida Department of Transportation CU, Florida A&M University FCU, Florida Rural Electric CU, Envision CU, and First Commerce CU. They all will remain closed through Wednesday but may reopen by Thursday or Friday depending on conditions.

It was just over a year ago in September 2017 when Hurricane Irma poured more than a foot of rain in several areas of South Florida, whipped up winds of 130 to 142 mph, knocked out power at more than 6.5 million Florida homes and businesses and forced many of the state’s credit unions to shut down.

The league and credit unions made the decision to close shop so that their employees can make preparations for this dangerous storm that is projected to make landfall over Florida’s panhandle or the Big Bend area by Wednesday morning or afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The hurricane, which is expected to generate life-threatening storm surges, high winds and heavy rainfall, may graze the southeast region of Alabama and move churn toward Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The league’s Birmingham office will remain open. However, the BSA training scheduled for Mobile, Ala., has also been cancelled and will be rescheduled after the storm.

LSCU said it is ready to provide resources and support to any credit union that may be impacted by the storm. If your credit union is affected, please complete a status update and send to CUStatus@lscu.coop.

Juli Lewis, director of the Southeastern Credit Union Foundation, said it is important to make a personal inventory of belongings in your home.

Pictures are great, she said, but on the slim chance that you lose everything (or even just the contents of a room or two), insurance requires a spreadsheet of every single item and the approximate value of each, from the big electronics down to the number of pairs of socks and coasters.

“After it’s gone, it’s hard to think back and remember every little thing,” Lewis said. “It’s worth creating (an inventory list) ahead of time and keeping (it) in a safe place with some pictures.”

The league also offered tips for credit unions to prepare for the storm and its aftermath.

Make sure your credit union has emergency supplies and that employees are prepared.  Cash is king during disasters, so consider increasing your cash order and fully stock ATMs for your members.

It’s also important to place computers and networking equipment above floor level in case flooding occurs and secure items outside the credit union that could become missiles during the storm.  You also may want to wrap plastic over equipment to prevent water damage and unplug equipment.

Make sure your roof and gutters are free of debris and park cars in safe areas away from trees that could fall.

Update your list of emergency contact numbers, including staff numbers and numbers for data processing vendor, IT support and credit unions with reciprocal processing agreements.

In addition, if you have a generator, test it to ensure it is working properly and that your fuel is topped off, and ensure that your backup systems are working. Take at least one copy of server’s data offsite before the storm.  Finally, ensure that your credit union has access to media required to re-install core data processing apps.