Some credit unions across the Mid-Atlantic were getting power back to normal Monday even as employees and members were assessing losses from damage to homes and businesses following a violent storms over the weekend.
In hard-hit Virginia, with power still out in many areas, there were credit unions limiting services or cutting hours as they tried to deal with the Friday night storm’s aftermath.
Nonetheless, the $817 million DuPont Community Credit Union of Waynesboro said it was proud of one achievement: it was the only institution in the community open on Saturday.
On Monday, it was having what it called minor network connectivity and phone issues.
The $141 million Pioneer West Virginia FCU of Charleston, where 300,000 were without power, experienced some damage at its Riverside Hospital branch with debris littering a drive-through but overall its disaster emergency plan worked well, said Dan McGowan, chief financial officer.
At one branch site at Riverside High School, the “Red Cross has opened a shelter for displaced families and persons at high risk health wise,” he said.
“We have a stock of Pioneer-branded bottled water recently purchased for marketing events but we are transporting our entire stock to the shelter to assist the relief effort as another way to give back to the community at a time of special need,” McGowan said.
Meanwhile, Central Virginia FCU of Lynchburg said in spite of power outages, the credit union was serving members on Monday with just its Timberlake branch having to close early.
In Colorado Springs, the National Credit Union Foundation said over the weekend it has now activated its CUAid online donation program to raise money for credit union employees and members affected by the wildfires.
"The impact of the Colorado wildfires on the community is an immediate concern," said Scott Earl, president/CEO of the Mountain West Credit Union Association. "With more than 32,000 people evacuated and 350 structures already destroyed, our thoughts and prayers go out to the communities in distress during these difficult times,” Earl said. “The support of the credit union community and the National Credit Union Foundation through the activation of CUAid will be indispensable."
