Credit Unions Prepare as Dorian Wanders West
Several Florida credit unions extend their closures to Wednesday.
Credit unions in Florida began announcing extended closures Monday as Hurricane Dorian wandered leisurely west perhaps toward Florida – or Georgia – or perhaps South Carolina.
Or it might land in some combination of those locations. The slow-moving storm climbed to a Category 5 over the weekend as it slammed the Bahamas, and then was downgraded to a slightly less deadly Category 4 storm on Monday. Early Monday, it was moving at about 1 mph as it mowed the islands.
Evacuation orders affected about 7.2 million people from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Palm Beach, Fla. – including about 2.6 million credit union members.
In Florida, mandatory evacuations were ordered for 4.6 million people living in nine east coast counties from Nassau to Palm Beach. Another 682,000 people in six other counties were under voluntary evacuations, including four inland counties around Lake Okeechobee. Those 15 counties include 260 credit union branches and as many as 1.8 million members, based on branch distribution and assuming no overlapping memberships.
In Georgia, a mandatory evacuation went into effect noon Monday for residents living east of I-95 in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh counties. Credit unions have 41 branches with nearly 260,000 members in those six counties, which have a total population of 542,000.
In South Carolina, I-26 was turned into a one-way street Monday with traffic flowing northwest from Charleston to Columbia to ease congestion for a mandatory evacuation affecting parts of all eight coastal counties, including all of Charleston County. The eight counties are home to 1.4 million people, 75 credit union branches and about 509,000 members.
Navy Federal Credit Union of Vienna, Va. ($106 billion in assets, 8.6 million members), which has 823,184 members in Florida alone, told members to stay tuned to its website and social media channels for branch closings.
“Our teams have been closely monitoring Hurricane Dorian and preparing with plans to be ready before and after the storm, when our members need us most,” Dietrich Kuhlmann, Navy Federal’s SVP of branch operations, said. “Our team stands ready to respond quickly with plans that may include setting up temporary branches just like we did in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael last year. We’ll be ready to help our members with all of their financial needs just as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Dorian’s potential path encompasses about 550,000 members of VyStar Credit Union of Jacksonville, Fla. ($8.7 billion in assets, 667,325 members) in Duval, Nassau, St. John’s, Clay, Putnam, Flagler and Volusia counties.
VyStar’s branches and call center in those seven counties closest to the storm’s projected path will remain closed until Thursday, Vystar CMO Judy Walz said.
Space Coast Credit Union of Melbourne, Fla. ($4.6 billion in assets, 433,523 members) announced Monday that its offices in Indian River, Brevard, Volusia and Flagler counties will remain closed Wednesday. It had announced earlier that all offices would be closed Tuesday.
GeoVista Credit Union of Hinesville, Ga. ($150.4 million in assets, 26,895 members) announced three branches in the Savannah, Ga., area would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of the evacuation orders.
United 1st Federal Credit Union of Kingsland, Ga. ($174 million in assets, 26,066 members) had planned to keep branches closed in Kingsland and St. Marys, just north of the Florida line. But late Monday it announced it would be open 7:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, “thanks to our dedicated employees that are able & have volunteered,” it said on its Facebook page.
“All other branches will be open on a regular schedule as long as weather does not become an issue for them,” it said. “We will continue to post updates as the week progresses.”