Gulf Coast Regional Bank: Ensuring Safety with Mobile Recovery

The Challenge 

Hurricane Laura hit southern Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, one of the most powerful to strike the Gulf Coast in decades. 

Downtown Lake Charles, LA, was severely impacted, with widespread destruction from Laura’s devastating winds. Roofs were torn off, buildings were destroyed, and lampposts were thrown into the streets. An industrial plant that makes chlorine-based products nearby was on fire, sending acidic smoke throughout the area and leading to a shelter-in-place order. 

While the time and location of landfall were accurately predicted, the forecasters had less luck predicting the storm’s strength that far in advance. They expected Laura would come ashore with peak winds of 100 mph and had to play catch-up as the storm intensified at breakneck speed. 

Even though hurricane Laura later weakened to a tropical depression, it did tear apart homes and businesses and caused power outages to nearly one million people in Texas and Louisiana. Arkansas was under a state of emergency due to damaging winds and flooding. The situation became an emergency very quickly: there was no power or running water, temperatures were in the 90s, and heat indexes in the 100s, lodging wasn’t available for everyone in the Lake Charles area, and COVID-19 cases were on the rise. One of the regional banks in the Gulf Coast has always been at the heart of the Lake Charles community, serving its clients since 1899, with its many branches from Texas to Florida. To continue its operations, this bank needed an immediate action plan, so they partnered with Agility to help safeguard the community and their people.

The Solution 

The team at a bank reached out to Agility’s declare hotline two days before the storm hit and went on alert status. It was important to create a thorough recovery plan in case the bank’s two branches had been impacted by the storm. Once their team could return to Lake Charles, they found out that both branches had been impacted by Laura.

Soon after requesting Agility’s assistance, our operations team deployed a Mobile Banking Center with the help from our two facilities in Texas and Georgia that supplied a Mobile Recovery Center and such banking components as on-board safes, teller undercounter units, security system, and lobby with teller stations to supplement the needs of the bank. All of the planning, coordination and deployment was solved in under 24 hours. The Agility team shifted its gears to lead the mobile deployment into Louisiana.

Once our team arrived at the customer’s location, it was clear that the bank had major issues as the roof of the building was gone. After working tirelessly for 48 hours, our specialists and technicians set up the Mobile Center and trained the team at the bank on how to manage the unit and use other equipment. 

 What Agility Recovery Did

Agility didn’t just deploy necessary equipment to a client’s recovery location —we leveraged our experts, field-tested knowledge, and 30-year expertise to help the bank fulfill their mission of protecting their community and people. We worked closely with the client to develop an action plan that fits the urgency of the unfolding events. We brought out deep industry skills, unrivaled industry expertise, and a strong reputation together to make this recovery go as planned. 

The Results 

The Gulf Coast Regional Bank was the first bank to reopen in Lake Charles, LA, bringing life back to normal. In the heat of the moment, when one of our members needed us the most, the Agility team was a phone call away. In a matter of 24 hours, our operations team coordinated, assembled, deployed, and set up all the resources and technology necessary for the local bank branch to quickly recover and continue serving its community.

The range of our custom-tailored services gave the client assurance they are well-equipped for any potential interruption. Regardless of the size of the business, downtime can leave a lasting effect on operations, resulting in missing data, lost revenue, and damaged reputation.

With the region slowly getting back to normalcy, there’s no telling what the local businesses and residents can expect next. However, one thing is certain: we are entering the time where disruption, caused either by weather-related or man-made events, is the new normal. Is your business prepared?