At least six branches of Tennessee credit unions, most in the Nashville area, remained closed Tuesday as floodwaters from the Cumberland River combined with power outages created havoc to businesses in the downtown area and forced evacuations in outlying communities.

Shared branching "has again proved its worth," noted officials of the Tennessee Credit Union League which has been monitoring stepped up activity in the hardest hit regions of middle Tennessee. The weekend tornado and flooding caused 22 deaths in Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.

"We have two of our branches closed now in Goodlettsville and in downtown Nashville," said Jeff Dahlstrom, chief operating officer of the $403 million Southeast Financial CU of Franklin, which has 17 branches.

Staffers at many Tennessee CUs found themselves cut off from getting to work by floodwaters or with facilities hit by water shortages or power outages.

A number of the downtown Nashville CUs, which have state employees as members, remained closed when the state ordered state employees home.