HILO, Hawaii–Credit unions and their members on the Big Island of Hawaii are now working to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Lala, with several communities without power and some CU branches having been damaged and operating on generators.
Hawaii CU League President Tim Ashcroft, who has been on the Big Island along with the league’s Doug Mashino to conduct visits and attend the HCUL Big Island Chapter meeting, told the CU Daily Hurricane Lala had the greatest devastation in the communities of Pahala and Na’alehu in the District of Ka’u, which is in the southern part of the island.
“Those communities currently have no power and experienced significant flooding with the primary road connecting the communities to services in Hilo washed out,” Ashcroft told the CU Daily. “CU Hawaii FCU, headquartered in Hilo, has branches serving the communities of Pahala and Na’alehu. They were able to open both branches on 8/19, with limited services due to the power outage.”
Ashcroft said services available to members currently include:
- Deposits
- Withdrawals up to $500 per member per day
- Payments
- Transfers
Spotty Cell Service
“Transactions are being processed through CU Hawaii FCU’s main branch and depend on cellular service availability, so delays may occur,” Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft said he also spoke with CU Hawaii FCU President/CEO, James Takamine, who said the credit union’s Na’alehu branch experienced some flooding in its lobby and part of their teller line, which it is now working diligently to cleanup.
“Both the Pahala and Na’alehu branches will be running on generators, which will allow for more services to be available to the membership,” Ashcroft said.
CU Hawaii FCU has organized a Storm Relief Fundraiser to support individuals and families in the Ka’u Community CU Hawaii FCU – Storm Relief Fundraiser.
All Other Branches Open
Ashcroft said all other Hawaii Island (Big Island) credit union branches are now open with power restored in the District of Hamakua and the District of North Kohala (8/19). No damages to buildings and credit union staff are safe.
There are nine credit unions headquartered on Hawaii Island (serving 159,278 members, according to the league.
