Louisiana League CEO Cochran Relieved to Hear from Husband

VAIL, Colo. – The wait was agonizing and trying to get through was just as frustrating but Anne Cochran, president/CEO of the Louisiana Credit Union League, was finally able to make contact with her husband, Roger, who was in Louisiana at the time of the hurricane. The news was mixed because Roger, a diabetic, came down with blood poisoning. At press time, Cochran said Connie Major, LCUL vice president of governmental affairs, was on her way to pick him up to take him to a nearby hospital. Cochran also has a son, Ryan, who is a network administrator at E FCU in Baton Rouge and also a member of the Air Guard Reserve. His unit was activated and Cochran hasn’t been able to talk with him since Saturday, Aug. 27. Staff at E FCU have tried unsuccessfully to reach him. Cochran said Ryan left a message at the CU but no one has heard from him since. Despite it all, Cochran, who is battling a case of bronchitis herself, is “happy to hear (her husband) is alive” and while she doesn’t know where her son is, she’s “sure he’s helping out.” Still, due to lack of power and phone use, “we just don’t have a grasp of everything that’s going on,” Cochran told Credit Union Times from her hotel room in Vail, Colo. on Tuesday, Aug. 31. Cochran, who serves on the board of the CU Service Center, had been in Vail since Aug. 27 attending one of their regional meetings. She was scheduled to leave Aug. 31 but at press time was not expected to leave until much later in the week. Meanwhile, Cochran said all of the league’s staff is safe and accounted for except one employee who did not evacuate. The league’s IT department is working on rebuilding servers and she has received word that credit unions are sharing services with those that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina. LCUL’s Baton Rouge and Shreveport service centers have power and are functioning, she said. Katrina’s eye passed right over Slidell, where Cochran lives. “I don’t know whether I have a home to go to,” she said. Cochran has been using her laptop to keep updated on Louisiana’s conditions and when it might be safe to return.