YORKTOWN, Va. - Dealing with hurricanes is nothing new forAdrian "Casey" Duplantier Jr. Having grown up in New Orleans andliving on the Virginia Peninsula located at the mouth of theChesapeake Bay for the past 18 years, the president/CEO of 1stAdvantage Credit Union has seen his share of the destructive stormsand is well aware of the amount of work and resources required torebuild affected areas after the hurricane passes. But even thoughDuplantier considers himself a hurricane veteran, Hurricane Katrinawas more than even he bargained for. Duplantier had beenvacationing with his family in Mississippi and evacuated from BaySt. Louis, Miss. just 24 hours before the eye of the storm passedover the vacation community. "I'm extremely relieved to be backhome with all my family safe and accounted for," he said, addingthough that with family scattered all over the Louisiana coast, thenumber of his relatives affected by Katrina "is sobering." The53-year old Duplantier lived in New Orleans until he was in histhirties and was there when the city was slammed by HurricanesBetsy and Camille in 1965 and 1969, respectively. Recalling hischildhood - he lived with his family near Lake Ponchartrain -Duplantier said "it was gorgeous, with beautiful oak trees andparks. Just a fantastic place to be." "Having gone through Betsyand Camille as a young teenager, I think of the mud and stench.It's horrible," he recalled, adding that he can't even think of theeconomic impact of the Katrina disaster. "The question isn'twhether New Orleans will rise again or not, but how long it willtake. It's like interest rates, they rise and fall," he said. ButDuplantier and 1st Advantage aren't waiting for that to happen onits own. "It will take a while before I know who has been affectedand how badly. However, I'm not waiting to find out before I dosomething to help," he said. To start, Duplantier brought home withhim his daughter and her three children from Biloxi, Miss. to givethem a place to live until electricity and other services wererestored to that city. In a 1st Advantage-wide relief effort, the$425 million CU will be matching donations to the American RedCross made at their branches up to $1,000 until $75,000 indonations is reached. In addition, in the coming months, 1stAdvantage and its community partners will be working to arrangefood and clothing drives to send to Mississippi and Louisiana. The60,000-member CU also plans to loan equipment and supplies to CUsin the impacted areas. "While I do have a lot of ties to the areashit hardest, my desire to help goes beyond those personal ties,"said Duplantier. "Living in a community that itself is stillrecovering from a hurricane, we owe it to those who helped usrebuild to do all we can to help victims of Katrina rebuild theirlives."