Independent Banker - February 2023 - 62

good idea to submit that payroll batch
today, " says Brandon Box, Cogent's
market president for southwest
Florida. " People don't think about
banking during a storm, but you've
still got to pay employees and pay
the bills. "
Last but not least, community
banks stocked up their ATMs. " If
other places are without power and
people need cash, we make sure our
ATMs have plenty, " says Littleton.
Getting up and running
The impact of Hurricane Ian was
devastating, with the greatest damage
to the Fort Myers, Sanibel, Captiva and
Pine Islands areas. Heavy rainfall and
catastrophic storm surges, reaching 12
to 18 feet above ground level, pounded
the coastal areas. " I've never seen a
surge to that extent, and I've lived here
almost 50 years, " says Elsie Stearns,
vice president and senior branch
manager for Centennial's Pine Island
branch. " It was the perfect storm. It
was huge, and it just sat over us for 10
to 12 hours. "
" There isn't one person in our
community who wasn't negatively
affected by Hurricane Ian, " says
DeCicco. " There were many people
in our community who had no home,
food, clothing or essential items for
their families. "
Whatever their circumstances,
community banks immediately went
to work on recovering. Using backup
generators, mobile branches
and improvising as needed, many
locations reopened quickly, even if
only for limited hours.
Centennial Bank had two branches
that lost power, Pine Island and
Englewood. The community bank
deployed a mobile branch to
Englewood, which was operational
within a week after the storm. Thanks
to a relatively new, hurricane-rated
structure, the Pine Island branch
came through the storm with minimal
damage, despite taking a direct hit.
The branch reopened 10 days after
Business continuity: 7 ways to prepare now
Superb preparation helped Florida's community banks weather
Hurricane Ian as well as they did. Steven Estep, AVP, operational
risk, ICBA, outlines the steps all community banks can take to have
business continuity plans, tailored to their risk factors, ready to go:
f Put someone in charge of creating and maintaining a business
continuity plan
f Conduct a full risk assessment, including:
y Identify and prioritize core functions
y Identify the most essential functions
y Identify what's required to support those processes
f Develop rules and responsibilities, lines of authority and
succession for emergencies
f Develop crisis communication plans
f Know what outside parties to call, such as law enforcement and
emergency responders, and what information they will need-be
sure to make introductions before times of crisis
f Consult with third-party vendors to understand how operational
you can be even if staff can't get to offices or branches
f Conduct regular awareness and training for all employees
Estep advises banks to invest in extra training for the person in
charge of business continuity plans. " It should be more than just
putting the job on someone's plate, " he says. " The more familiar
people are with best practices, the better they'll be able to respond
if or when something is needed. "
the storm, working without power for
approximately a week.
With its inland location, Citizens
Bank's Lake Wales office mainly
endured water intrusion as well as
loss of power for about four days. But
Citizens did open all offices two days
after the storm.
" Our two big offices have full-sized
generators and worked fine, but we
had several offices that were operating
offline, " Littleton says. For the offices
without power, Citizens kept the
doors locked and let customers in one
at a time.
It was hardly business as usual
in the first days and weeks after the
storm. The simplest daily chores were
a challenge. " After the storm, power
was lost, so gas stations couldn't
pump gas, " Cogent's Brandon Box
recalls. " When the rare gas truck came
in, it would be a two-hour line waiting
to fill up. It was controlled chaos. "
Sanibel Island was one of the
hardest-hit areas in southwest
Florida, with power out for five
full weeks and the causeway to the
mainland closed for over three weeks.
Sanibel Captiva Community Bank was
among the first businesses to resume
services on the island, reopening its
main branch for limited hours under
a temporary soccer tent. " We had
folding chairs under the tent and have
been out there ever since, two to three
days a week, providing cash services
and access to deposit boxes and notary
services, " says DeCicco.
Often, banking services were
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