Meeting Notes
The following details are an accumulation of years of coalition meetings, updated with the latest information. New additions to plans this year include:
- Use of Sandless Sandbags
- Implementing Tornado drills
- Portable chargers for cell phones in case of power outage
- Make sure you have your passwords when you evacuate or have to work from a different location. Encourage customers to know their passwords as well
- Documenting current physical status of facility prior to emergency event (GoPro, Realwear HMT)
- Add generator maintenance kits to preparedness list
- Satellite phones with Starlink
- Fully test generators—turn off building electricity and turn generator on to ensure the generator is functioning properly
- Backup internet services
- Mobile Service—dual SIM cards with multiple cellular providers
- Redundant backups to upload data
- Full Cloud for CMCN and Recovery
The coalition is comprised of financial institutions, regulators, emergency personnel, law enforcement, weather service personnel and armored carriers.
Natural emergencies begin and end locally. In the event of an emergency, decisions are made at the local level; therefore, it is vital that the financial institutions build strong working relationships with their local law enforcement and emergency personnel. The way the system is designed is that the local and parish emergency personnel make decisions and take charge of an emergency event in their particular area until their resources are depleted then they call the state in for assistance. By building relationships on the local level, the bankers will be more on top of any given situation than if they wait for news from the state level.
The first 72 is on you which means that you, personally and your business need to be able to take care of yourself for the first 72 hours after a natural emergency event. After that, assistance should be available. Consider adding to your Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plan what happens when the water pressure is low and there are no bathroom facilities available for use.
The Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center is a collaboration among the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana Department of Economic Development, LSU’s Stephenson’s Disaster Management Institution and UL Lafayette’s National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies Institute. The Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Coalition represents the financial sector with the LABEOC. The goal of the BEOC is for private industries to come together to form a partnership with government to be better prepared for an emergency event and to be able to respond to and recover more effectively from an emergency event. The physical BEOC facility is housed at ULL’s NIMSAT headquarters in Abdalla Hall in Lafayette. Financial institutions should register on the LABEOC website, www.labeoc.org, to view situational analysis throughout an emergency event. Banks may want to register a contact person from each branch and let customers know that they can register, also. The benefits of registering: (1) situational awareness, (2) ability to request goods and services, (3) ability to provide goods and services, (4) assist GOHSEP when contracts are exhausted. I think the biggest benefit to the financial institution is the ability to have ongoing situational awareness updates. In addition, for the financial institution’s customers, this connection may give them the opportunity for work during an emergency event when they may otherwise be without work.
Financial Institutions are encouraged to talk with their customers about emergency preparedness.
FDIC
Financial Institution Letter: Updated FFIEC IT Examination Handbook Business Continuity Management Booklet
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Emergency Contacts
Federal Bureau of Investigation
FBI 2023 Internet Crime Report
FBI Fraud Alert Flyer
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
FFIEC Press Release, “Financial Regulators Revise Business Continuity Management Booklet to Stress to Examiners the Value of Resilience to Avoid Disruptions to Operations”
FFIEC Information Technology Examination Handbook for Business Continuity Management
Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve Business Continuity Resource Center
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta 2024 Hurricane Letter
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Business Continuity 2024
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Lake Charles GOHSEP Presentation
Bossier Parish OHSEP Presentation
Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions
Office of Financial Institutions Emergency Preparedness Guide
Miscellaneous Resources
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency's Tropical Cyclone Page
American Bankers Association's Hurricane and Preparedness and Response Resources
FEMA's National Business Emergency Operations Center webpage (includes a fact sheet and FAQs)
SC Bankers Bank Resources
2024 Emergency Preparedness Re-entry Credentialing Requirements by Parish
Consumer Tips for Natural Disaster Victims
Blank Emergency Notification Card Template
ICBA's Crises Preparedness Resources
Loomis Contacts by Area
National Weather Service
Alexandria Presentation
Bossier Parish Presentation
Gretna Presentation
Lafayette Presentation
Lake Charles Presentation
Terrebonne Parish Presentation
West Monroe Presentation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Contacts