Credit Union Starts Recovery After Texas Storm Extensively Damages Branch

Photo credit: Nancy Croix-Stroud.

The Insurance Council of Texas recently reported that the snowstorm’s aftermath may result in the largest claims event and costliest natural disaster in history for the Lone Star State, which left millions of residents and businesses without power and in the cold for days.

Many of those claims are expected to include broken water pipes that caused extensive damage to homes and businesses, and one of them is the $60.9 million First Class American Credit Union in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Our new [two-year-old] branch has extensive damage,” First Class American  President/CEO Nancy Croix-Stroud told the Cornerstone League. “[The] main water line broke in eight places. The branch had three inches of water standing in the entire branch [with] water pouring out from the ceiling.”

Photo credit: Nancy Croix-Stroud.

Croix-Stroud also said all of the sheetrock and insulation from one side of the branch had to be  ripped out and all of the furniture needs to be replaced.

She estimated the water damage costs to be roughly $140,000 right now. But that number could end up being higher because Croix-Stroud doesn’t know yet whether the branch’s two cash recyclers work. Their price tag is $78,000 each.

“We are looking at 90 to 120 days to get the branch back open,” she said.

Photo credit: Nancy Croix-Stroud.

Brandon Michaels, president/CEO of the $2.5 billion JSC Federal Credit Union in Houston, reported to the Cornerstone League that several team members have thousands of dollars of repairs to do on their homes due to broken water pipes.

The silver lining in the storm’s aftermath was that the boil-water notices have since been lifted in many parts of the state. Earlier this week, nearly nine million Texans were under a boil-water advisory as utilities struggled to return water pressure for safe drinking levels.

“The boil order complicated our problems, but it was more of a nuisance than a hindrance,” Michaels said.