Hurricane Helene Impacts Northeast Tennessee Credit Unions

Friday, Sept. 27, was a weather alert day. Many schools throughout East Tennessee closed in anticipation of the remnants of Hurricane Helene moving through the area. The storm system was forecast to bring heavy rains and gusty winds. However, no one anticipated the biblical devastation that Hurricane Helene would have on the Southern Appalachians.

Before Helene even made landfall, the outskirts of the storm brought significant rainfall to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the days leading up to Friday, Sept. 27. Once over the area, Helene dropped an epic amount of rain causing catastrophic flooding, landslides and mudslides. Sadly, it has become one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall on the U.S. mainland in the modern era and is considered to be Katrina of the Southern Appalachians.

Everyone who lives in Southern Appalachia has been impacted by the powerful storm. Thankfully, all Northeast Tennessee credit union CEOs have reported that their employees are safe. Some credit unions have had power and water outages, but only one branch was destroyed. Northeast Community Credit Union lost its 19E Branch in Elizabethton as the Doe River overflowed its banks.

“Among our 45 staff members between four locations, roughly 25 percent of them suffered loss due to home and/or property damage with cars flooded,” said Teresa Arnold, president and CEO of Northeast Community Credit Union. “We have staff living with relatives due to homes being damaged or inaccessible in flooded areas. Not a single employee was unaffected in some way, whether due to loss of running water and/or electricity (we still have many in that category), or the loss of ability to communicate with family since most of our area is still without cell and landline phone service, and many struggling to deal with the aftermath around us. There was no loss of life among our staff or their immediate families and we are incredibly thankful for that.”

The devastation is catastrophic and difficult to comprehend. The recovery and rebuilding process will take months, potentially years in some cases. However, there are moments of hope.

“The outpouring of support is moving from other credit unions both near and far, local banks, Tennessee Credit Union League, Volunteer Corporate Credit Union, Fiserv, NCUA and TDFI,” said Teresa. “Everyone is eager to help and we are so encouraged by everyone’s concern and willingness. We have caring staff members and an amazing hardworking board of directors. With God’s help and all of us pulling together, we know we will get through this horrific time.”