Hurricane Isaac: Singing River FCU Cleans Up Mississippi Mess

This street view of a service road and Highway 63 was taken about 10 a.m. Wednesday from the board room at Singing River FCU in Moss Point, Miss. on Wednesday. Below right, flood damage inside the credit union's headquarters.

Hurricane Isaac may be long gone but some credit unions are still cleaning up the mess it left behind.

The headquarters of $165 million Singing River Federal Credit Union in Moss Point, Miss., sustained an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 in damages.

Moss Point is located at the southeastern tip of Mississippi.

Singing River Federal CU President and CEO Jimmy Smith put Hurricane Isaac into perspective Tuesday morning.

“Based on a scale of 1 to 10, this storm was probably a three or a four because we’ve been through this before with Hurricane Katrina, which was a 10,” Smith said. “Compared to Katrina, the damage was minimal. We never lost power, we never lost our phone lines or our data processing systems, and we were able to disperse cash.”

He added, “Our preparation for this storm was exceedingly better than it was in the past.”

Nevertheless, the combination of heavy rains and strong winds caused moderate flooding and water damage to several offices through the 25,000-square-foot, two-story Singing River Federal Credit Union headquarters building where 50 employees work.

“We managed to open Friday at noon for our members,” Smith said. Work crews were already cleaning up right after the storm rumbled through Mississippi on Wednesday.

Work crews dried and disinfected carpeting and replaced and painted walls that had been damaged by the water in four offices, enabling Singing River Federal CU to reopen for business on Friday.

“It was important for our members who chose not to use ATMs to be open on Friday because of the long holiday weekend,” Smith said Tuesday. “At on one time on Friday we had 75 members lined up in main lobby and at the drive-thru. This morning (Monday) we have been extremely busy serving members.”

Throughout the Labor Day weekend, work crews continued to clear and restore about six other offices that displaced some employees in the special assets department, member service and IT. Even though the IT room had some minor damage, it did not affect the credit union’s online services to members.

“Employees who were displaced are working in our board and training rooms,” Smith said. “We hope to have their offices ready by Friday.”

Smith noted the credit union’s three branches had minor water damage but it did not affect their normal business operations.

The Mississippi Credit Union League said Friday that about a dozen credit unions reported varying degrees of storm damage but that all remained open for business.