MidSouth Bank hosts hurricane awareness and preparedness seminars

Many lessons were learned after hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut down commerce in portions of south Louisiana and southeast Texas in 2005.

But as soon as the curfews were lifted, MidSouth Bank’s facilities were back in business and customers had immediate access to all of their accounts.

While MidSouth’s banking locations escaped any major damage, the company’s systems and protocols helped it avoid any service interruptions. The close call, however, prompted the Lafayette-based banking group to take action to ensure that it has the most technologically-advanced systems in place to complement its employee evacuation and relocation plan, Alex Calicchia, MidSouth’s chief marketing officer, said in a news release.

In anticipation of another active hurricane season, the bank hosted a series of hurricane awareness and preparedness presentations in June.

Meteorologist Mark Mathiesen, of ImpactWeather, a Houston-based weather monitoring and notification service, presented the seminar. The bank has subscribed in ImpactWeather’s service since early 2006, Calicchia said.

Open to customers and staffers, the seminars were held in Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Beaumont, Texas.

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Department, the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce and the South Central Industrial Association were also in attendance at the local seminar.

“Preparation is key to lessening the impact of a major storm, and the seminar, while very informative, also revealed that a significant amount of work has been done in our communities in the past two years,” said Troy Cloutier, president of the MidSouth Bank’s South Louisiana Region.

Spared from significant damage by Hurricane Katrina, the Houma market wasn’t as lucky a month later when Hurricane Rita wreaked havoc on the east side of the parish, flooding thousands of home, the bank president said.

“It was reassuring to all of us in attendance that the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and Rita left an indelible impression on our local leadership,” he added. “I feel like the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office has put a lot of time and resources into ensuring that people here will be evacuated in a timely and safe manner should there be another major threat.”

According to Mathiesen, experts expect 13 to 17 named storms, of which eight to 10 will be hurricanes, to form in 2007. Of those, the meteorologist said four or five will be major storms – Category 3, 4 or 5.

Mathiesen explained that a major hurricane with winds in excess of 111 miles per hour (like Katrina) can create a storm surge of 25 to 30 feet (Rita’s was 15 to 20 feet). “What I really wanted to get across to people was that they need to know their elevations above sea level, because if your home or office is in a storm surge zone you have to evacuate. It’s not an ‘if,’ ‘and’ or ‘but.’ You have to evacuate,” he said. “Even if that’s the only message they walked away with, the seminar was a success.”

Rising water is another major concern. “It takes only 12 inches of rising water for a vehicle to be washed away and half that, only six inches, for a person to be washed away,” he noted.

The weakest point in most homes, according to Mathiesen, is the garage door. The structure usually has no support behind the door, he explained.

“Once wind pushes the door inward or pulls it out, the wind then exerts pressure on the roof, which causes shingles to be pulled off of the house, resulting in a situation where water can easily get inside the house,” Mathiesen said. “It is that water that gets inside the house which has the potential to do a significant amount of damage, so it is important that you brace the back of the garage door to provide added support.”

As a result of its collaboration with ImpactWeather, Calicchia said MidSouth Bank has shored up a plan for how it will stay in direct communication with its employees and maintain operations during and after a storm. Should a major storm threaten the Gulf Coast area, the bank has the capability to quickly consolidate its offsite operations out of harm’s way in College Station, Texas, he said.

Among the ongoing services ImpactWeather offers MidSouth Bank is site-specific forecasting for Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Beaumont for any tropical depression, storm or hurricane that could pose a threat to the region.

“The key to remaining safe and sustaining your company’s operations during a hurricane threat is good preparation, and it’s never too early to start that process,” Mathiesen said. “Let’s just hope we see a quieter than expected 2007 hurricane season.”