Credit union leagues were monitoring severe weather conditions Thursday as snowstorms and blizzards hammered Midwest states, forcing some credit unions to close, and possible tornadoes were reported around Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla.
The Iowa Credit Union League in Des Moines reported that at least six credit unions were closed on Thursday but the $45 million Des Moines Metro and the $38 million Midland Credit Union in Urbandale were scheduled to reopen at noon.
The ICUL office was operating with a skeleton crew as many employees were snowed in at their homes. One of them, Erin Hofer, an ICUL sales and support manager, said about 13 inches of snow fell in the Des Moines area overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
While the snowfall has been tapering off in Iowa, the storm continued to churn east toward Minnesota and Wisconsin where the $1.8 billion Summit Credit Union closed all of its branches.
“In light of the forecast for 10+ inches of snow and blizzard conditions, all Summit branches will be closed Thursday, December 20th. This includes our Contact Center,” read a statement on Summit CU’s website.
Madison-based Summit, the second-largest credit union in Wisconsin with 23 branches and four in the metro Milwaukee area that serve more than 127,000 members, recommended that customers go online to have access to their accounts, pay bills, make loan payments or transfer money. ATMs were functioning.
The credit union said it will be contacting members to reschedule Thursday appointments.
Credit union league officials in Illinois and Minnesota said they have not received reports of credit unions closures as of Thursday morning. The snowstorm is expected to hit Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania Thursday night and into Friday.
Meanwhile, the League of Southeastern Credit Unions said it was contacting credit unions in the Mobile area where a tornado reportedly caused extensive damage to buildings and cars. The LSCU also was monitoring severe weather conditions on the Florida Panhandle but said it not received any damage reports to credit unions in either state.
