14-year-old Lao among THS’s Class of 2011
May 17, 2011Thursday, May 19
May 19, 2011Anticipated flooding in the Tri-parish region will not stop area bankers from delivering continued service to their customers.
MidSouth Bank CEO Rusty Cloutier announced Thursday that his financial institution had created a program to help area residents threatened by flood waters from the Atchafalaya River and bayous expected to take back flows during the coming weeks.
“I fear the area around Morgan City, in particular, could be hard hit,” Cloutier said.
This banking executive said he remembers well the flood of 1973, an event that is being anticipated as a repeat now that the Morganza Spillway floodgates are opened to offer relief from the flooding Mississippi River, which is sending rising waters toward the Atchafalaya Basin. It was in 1973 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last opened the floodgates that prompted a historic occurrence.
“The levee and pump systems are much better now, but we haven’t seen water levels like this since the flood of 1927 [an event that washed over the 1973 flood in terms of damage to the region],” Cloutier said.
Taking advantage of technology not available in 1973 or 1927, MidSouth Bank established an ombudsman program to assist customers in navigating their accounts and banking needs during disasters as well as normal conditions.
“While their primary duty is to help customers monitor their accounts in order to avoid excessive overdraft fees, these employees are more than capable of offering service or advice, or just reassurance during these kinds of disasters,” Cloutier said.
Coastal Commerce Bank Vice President of Commercial Lending Brian Arceneaux expressed agreement with Cloutier regarding technology available to community banks.
“If you have to evacuate, there is the Internet,” Arceneaux said. “You can get on a website anywhere and take care of your banking.”
MidSouth Bank customers are instructed to call (800) 213-2265 for the ombudsman or conduct online banking at online@midsouthbank.com. Coastal Commerce Bank customers should call (877) 580-2265 for information or log on at webmastercc@coastalcommerce.com. Customers of other financial institutions should check with their banks ahead of anticipated disasters to secure emergency contact information.
