Hurricane Ida, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, caused catastrophic destruction to homes and business across parts of Louisiana and hit parts of Mississippi and Alabama.

The same message went to the leagues, chapters, the National Council of Firefighter Credit Unions, and many others – and folks responded with generous support, Vaulin said.

In addition to water, ice, food, fuel and generators, other equipment and supplies that were loaded on a truck on Friday were inflatable mattresses for employees planning to sleep at the credit union, camping stoves, toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, and plastic utensils, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and toothbrushes, laundry detergent, bleach, and other cleaning supplies, Ziploc bags and trash bags.

Vaulin reported that sewer systems are still not operational as of Tuesday afternoon.

CU*SOUTH also put out a request for support. Within 12 hours, the CUSO had secured more than $23,000 in pledges from nine credit unions, four partner CUSOs, and other credit union industry partners, Vaulin said.

The organizations include ANECA FCU in Shreveport; RVA Financial FCU in Richmond, Va., MyPensacola FCU in Pensacola, Fla., MUNA FCU in Meridian, Miss., Calhoun-Liberty Employees CU in Blountstown, Fla., Commodore Perry FCU in Oak Harbor, Ohio, Pinnacle CU in Atlanta, Ga., Michigan Legacy CU in Wyandotte, Mich., CU*Answers in Grand Rapids, Mich., Corporate America CU in Irondale, Ala., eDOC Innovations in Middlebury, Vermont, RekindleGoBig in Pennsylvania, Xtend in Grand Rapids, Mich. and BA Group in Northfield, Minn.

"We are so grateful for this generous support. This means so much to our people, especially those who aren't expecting power to be restored until the end of the month," NOFFCU President/CEO Judy Delucca said. "With so many of our branches damaged, we are looking at options to bring pop-up branches to our fire stations. Wherever our members are working to restore communities, that's where we need to be."

NOFFCU operates a branch in Lafourche Parish where Parish President Archie Chaisson reported to CNN on Monday that 75% of the parish's structures were either destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Ida and approximately 14,000 people are without homes.

Last week approximately 80 credit unions were forced to close their branches, the Louisiana Credit Union League said. However, since then, credit unions have been able to reopen some of their shops because power is gradually being restored in parts of the hard-hit state. More than half (51%) of homeowners and businesses in Southeast Louisiana now have power, while in New Orleans, that number is approximately 70% as of Tuesday afternoon, according to local media reports.

In addition to CU*SOUTH, efforts to provide disaster relief are underway by the Louisiana Credit Union Foundation, which is collecting contributions that will be used to provide direct assistance to credit unions and their employees. To make a donation, visit the foundation's site.

What's more, the National Credit Union Foundation announced last week it committed $100,000 for relief efforts.

Coincidentally, on Aug. 27, just two days before Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29, the Southwest Louisiana Credit Union in Lake Charles sent a $20,827 donation to the National Credit Union Foundation to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Laura, which also struck and devastated southwest Louisiana. The credit union's employees, like everyone in the area, suffered damage to their homes and disruption to their lives.

The New York Credit Union Association said it has been in contact with credit unions throughout the New York City area impacted by Tropical Storm Ida, alerting them that the New York Credit Union Foundation is prepared to provide assistance. NYCUA, however, did not have any details about how many credit unions may have been affected by the storm when reached by CU Times on Tuesday.

Credit unions facing challenges because of the storm are encouraged to contact Chris Pajak, Association's vice president of member engagement, at (518) 437-8188 or via email at [email protected].

The CrossState Credit Union Association, which represents credit unions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in conjunction with the CrossState Credit Union Foundation, is looking closely at options to see how it can help credit unions in the two states affected by the storm. Credit unions that sustained any damage should email [email protected].

Throughout parts of New Jersey, New York and eastern Pennsylvania, Tropical Storm Ida caused massive floods that led to extensive property damage and claims lives.