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Bankers Cope With Flooding In The Midwest
There were about 20 financial institutions that were flooded out during the heavy rains in the midwest this summer. One of them was in Elwood, Kansas.
The First Bank of Elwood sits on a jut of Kansas that extends right into the Missouri River. They are not in a flood zone, however, because of the levee protecting the town.
Robert Means, the president, and his twelve employees anticipated some trouble because of the heavy rains. They had been fighting the dampness inside their building all spring. Their disaster recovery plan was fairly comprehensive. It specifically addressed floods. Their back-up site was Elwood City Hall.
As the rains continued, the danger of the levee giving way increased, threatening now to inundate the entire town. Mr. Means knew they were going to have to abandon their original back-up location. (As it turned out, the water never did reach the second story of City Hall, but the only access was by boat!)
In looking for an alternate back-up site, the logical choice was across the river. Even though it was in another state, First Bank of Elwood has a large customer base in St. Joseph. Most of 1,275 Elwood residents that had to relocate from the flood, to put it in Mr. Mean's words, "floated in the direction of St. Joe."
Telephone calls to the two state banking departments and to the FDIC gave them permission to move into Missouri before the levee gave way. They had a construction company on 24 hour call, and on Saturday afternoon they moved computers, equipment and all their records to an empty banking office Robert Means had located in St. Joseph. They left the furniture behind.
On Sunday morning about 7 o'clock they watched the levee give way. It was located just a half-mile from First Bank of Elwood's office. By the end of the day there was over ten feet of water in the banking office.
On Monday, the First Bank of Elwood was up and running in their comparatively dry quarters in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Two of First Bank's employees were from Elwood. The rest are from Troy, Wathena and St. Joseph.
Mr. Means says they should be back in their Elwood office by early October. "The office won't be finished by then," he said, "but will be insulated, sheet rocked, air conditioned and wired. We'll move back in and let the contractors trim around us."
BANKERS' HOTLINE wishes good fortune to all the financial institutions that were hit by the floods this year. We also wish them dry basements for many years to come.
Copyright © 1993 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 4, No. 3, 8/93
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