Northeast Tennesseans are digging out from Hurricane Helene’s destruction. The credit union motto of “people helping people” is exemplified as credit unions throughout the state rally around our credit union colleagues by hosting relief drives and affected credit unions help members who are reeling from the catastrophic storm.
A Look at the Impact to Credit Union Members in Erwin, Tenn.
A hard-hit area of Northeast Tennessee is the town of Erwin, which sits on the banks of the Nolichucky River in Unicoi County on the Tennessee and North Carolina border. The town of 6,000 people is 120 miles from Knoxville and 50 miles from Asheville, N.C.
During the height of the storm, the Tennessee Valley Authority reported the Nolichucky Dam flow reached nearly twice that of the iconic Niagara Falls. Clinchfield Federal Credit Union has been in Erwin since it was founded in 1947 to serve the Clinchfield Railroad workers. Today, it has a community charter and serves more than 6,700 members. All of whom have been affected by the powerful flood waters.
“The credit union ran a report on members in the areas most heavily impacted and actively reached out to members to see what their needs were and how we could lift their burden of loan payment worries,” said Clarissa Lane, chief financial officer at Clinchfield Federal Credit Union.
The normally beautiful mountain terrain has made reaching members in Helene’s aftermath challenging. Many of the communities were only accessible by one road. And now, those roads have cut off communities as they have been washed away or severely damaged by the historic flood waters.
“One of our consumer loan officers actually hiked in supplies and loan forms to Little Germany, an area in our field of membership in Washington County, which had been cut off due to road damage,” said Clarissa. “She met their needs in multifaceted ways by meeting physical needs and eliminating any financial worry by having forms for skip payments.”
Clinchfield Federal Credit Union is offering a replacement rate special for members who have to replace a home or vehicle. These loans will be made at discounted rates. The credit union is also waiving fees and early withdrawal penalties, performing skip payments and loan modifications for those impacted.
“The employees of the credit union adopted a member family by providing clothes, shoes, pillows and other things,” said Clarissa. “From higher ground, this particular family watched their home on AJ Willis Road be lifted up off its foundation and float down the river ‘like a barge.’”
A Look at Two Credit Unions’ Relief Drives
The landscape in many of these communities is forever changed.
“It has weighed heavily on all of us at Knoxville TVA Employee Credit Union to see our communities damaged by Hurricane Helene,” said Lynn Summers, president and CEO of Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union. “This region is our home.”
Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, which has branches in Northeast Tennessee, hosted a relief drive to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. The Knoxville-based credit union would match member donations up to $25,000. However, the goal was quickly exceeded.
“Within a week of our ‘Lend a Hand’ support drive to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene, we raised $120,000 cash for Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee,” said Lynn. “We are humbled by the generosity of our membership to rally behind a community in need.”
“We know the storms impacted our employees, members, friends and family,” said Lynn. “We encourage anyone affected by the storm to reach out for help because our community shines the brightest when we work together.”
UT Federal Credit Union helped by organizing a relief drive.
“Like so many others, we were saddened to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and how this natural disaster has impacted so many of our friends and neighbors all across Upper East Tennessee and Western North Carolina,” said Ron Blackburn, assistant vice president of communication at UT Federal Credit Union. “In response to this tragedy, our team has organized supply and donation drives and deliveries to assist these communities, as well as financial contributions to begin to help them rebuild.”
A Look at an Impacted Community in Southwest Virginia
In addition to Northeast Tennessee, several counties in Southwest Virginia were hit by Helene’s powerful destruction. These communities are part of the Kingsport, Bristol, Tenn., and Bristol, Va., metropolitan area. With close proximity, many Tennessee credit unions serve those who live in Southwest Virginia. Several Southwest Virginia towns experienced flooding, the worst being in the town of Damascus, Va., near the Johnson County, Tenn., state line, which suffered extensive damage.
Eastman Credit Union has a branch in Gate City, Va., and while flooding was certainly an issue, Hurricane Helene’s record rainfall followed by hours of extreme winds uprooted trees across the mountains and ridges of Southwest Virginia resulting in extreme power outages.
Eastman’s Gate City Branch overlooks parking lots that serve as staging areas for linemen across the country who came together to restore power to the region. Branch employees voluntarily collected items for the lineman.
“Both of our branches were affected by this storm with most of us losing power at home and/or work at some point,” said Dee Dee Hill, Eastman Credit Union’s Gate City branch manager. “We have been moved by the number of trucks and personnel brought to our county to restore our power, so we wanted to do something to show our appreciation. We can’t thank these workers enough since many have traveled thousands of miles to assist our local power company during this historic event in our area.”
Eastman Credit Union is donating more than $200,000 to help relief efforts. Eastman Credit Union has about 85,000 members in the hardest hit areas in Tennessee and Virginia, and in addition to contributions, Eastman is extending assistance to affected members and sponsoring volunteer and donation opportunities for staff to support recovery efforts in both states.
“At Eastman Credit Union, we stand committed to assisting the agencies on the front lines and have established plans to continue supporting agencies and the affected communities in the months and years to come,” said Kelly Price, president and CEO of Eastman Credit Union.
Marathon Recovery, Not a Sprint
As the weeks since the Hurricane increase and Hurricane Milton and the election take over news coverage, we must continue to support our credit union colleagues affected by Helene.
“We need our credit union friends and family to not forget the people across this region who have had loss due to Hurricane Helene,” said Clarissa. “This will be a marathon recovery, not a sprint, measured in months not weeks. Many living near the Tennessee/North Carolina line are having to look for alternative heat sources because they’re being told their power will be out for months and the colder air is coming in this week as a matter of fact with lows in the 30s/40s.”
How to Help
We invite you to support the League’s Northeast Tennessee Chapter of Credit Union Hurricane Relief Drive, which directly benefits credit union employees and volunteers affected by Helene. Learn more.
Snippet of Relief Efforts
It is important to point out that this is just a snippet of some of the relief efforts taking place. We’d love to hear how your credit union is helping. Email us today!
Banner Caption: Employees from Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union unload water for relief efforts.
