Hurricane Preparedness for Your Employees and Members: A Practical Guide

Know Where Your People Are Before the Storm

Hurricane Helene caught many organizations off guard because it traveled so far inland. Western North Carolina, a region that rarely sees major hurricane damage, experienced catastrophic flooding. Businesses in Asheville found themselves scrambling to account for employees who had never dealt with storm preparation before. The lesson: your workforce vulnerability extends well beyond the coast.

Start by mapping where employees actually live, not just where they work. A credit union with branches in Tampa might have tellers who commute from Lakeland. A franchise location in Jacksonville could have a manager who lives near the Georgia border. During Milton, some Florida businesses discovered employees had already evacuated to areas that ended up in the storm's path.

Collect home addresses, cell phone numbers, and secondary contact information for every employee. Ask about family obligations too. Staff members caring for elderly parents or young children face different evacuation challenges than those without dependents. Jax Federal Credit Union found this information invaluable during Hurricane Irma, allowing leadership to allocate resources and accommodations based on actual employee needs rather than assumptions.

Build a Communication System That Works Without Power

After Helene, some North Carolina communities went more than 50 days without clean water. Hundreds of thousands lost power for three weeks or longer. Cell towers went down. Internet service disappeared. Credit unions that relied solely on email and smartphone apps to reach employees found themselves unable to communicate at all.

Your communication plan needs layers. Text alerts work when cell service holds up. Email serves as documentation and reaches employees who evacuated to areas with connectivity. Social media provides public-facing updates for members. But you also need backup options: satellite phones for leadership, two-way radios for local coordination, and yes, printed contact lists that work even when batteries die.

One Louisiana credit union demonstrated creative problem-solving after Hurricane Katrina knocked out all electronic communication. They placed hand-written yard signs in front of branches showing which direct deposits had posted and when members could access funds. Simple, low-tech, effective. The point is reaching people through whatever channel remains available.

Take Care of Employees Before Asking Them to Work

Your staff members have their own storm preparations to handle. They need to board up windows, fill prescriptions, stock supplies, possibly evacuate with families. Organizations that expect employees to choose work over personal safety during hurricane preparations create resentment and turnover. Those that support employees through the storm earn loyalty that lasts for years.

Give staff early release time before the storm arrives. Some credit unions close branches 24 to 48 hours before projected landfall, giving employees time to prepare and evacuate if necessary. Others maintain skeleton crews at key locations while sending most staff home. Either approach works better than keeping full staffing until the last minute and then wondering why nobody can get home safely.

After the storm, employee support becomes even more important. Jax Federal provided $50 gift cards to each staff member to replace refrigerator contents lost during power outages. Other organizations have arranged temporary housing, offered emergency loans with favorable terms, or connected employees with counseling services. These gestures acknowledge that your people are dealing with personal crises while also trying to serve members in crisis.

Keep Members Informed Even When Services Are Limited

Members facing hurricane damage need to know whether their money is safe and accessible. Direct deposits from employers and Social Security represent lifelines during recovery. ATM access, mobile banking availability, and branch hours become critical information that members actively seek out.

Use every channel available: website updates, social media posts, automated phone systems, local news coordination. Be specific. Rather than saying services may be limited, specify which branches are open, what hours they are operating, and which ATMs are functional. Members driving through storm-damaged areas to reach a branch deserve accurate information before they make the trip.

The NCUA reminds credit unions that member deposits remain protected by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund regardless of physical damage to branches. Communicating this reassurance helps reduce member anxiety and prevents panic withdrawals that strain your already challenged operations.

Prepare Financial Relief Options in Advance

Your members will need financial help during recovery. Some will face unexpected expenses for generators, hotel stays, or home repairs. Others will lose income as employers shut down. The organizations that respond quickly with practical assistance become essential community resources.

Design disaster relief products before hurricane season starts. Emergency personal loans with expedited approval processes. Loan payment deferrals or skip-payment options. Credit card fee waivers. Auto loan refinancing with deferred payments. During federal government shutdowns, Jax Federal allowed members to skip loan payments for up to 60 days and offered zero-percent short-term loans up to $3,000. Similar programs work during hurricane recovery.

Having these products pre-approved and documented means you can launch them immediately after a disaster declaration rather than working through approval processes while members wait. The speed of your response matters as much as the substance.

Supporting Members Through the Storm

Quick response with practical financial relief builds lasting community trust

Test Your Plan Before You Need It

NCUA requires federally insured credit unions to test disaster recovery plans annually. But a test that only checks whether backup servers work misses the human element. Can you actually reach all your employees within an hour? Do branch managers know their specific responsibilities during evacuation orders? Have new hires been trained on emergency procedures?

Run tabletop exercises that simulate realistic scenarios. A Category 3 hurricane making landfall 100 miles south of your main service area. A flood warning requiring evacuation of three branches with 24 hours notice. An extended power outage affecting your data center. Walk through the decisions you would make, identify gaps in your procedures, and update your plans accordingly.

Include employees in the testing process. Staff members who have participated in drills respond more confidently during actual emergencies. They know where to find information, who to contact, and what actions to take without waiting for instructions that may be delayed by communication breakdowns.