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$20,0U0 Of Wef~Money Happy Sight For Some
By
DIANA W. DEICHELBOHRER Cuna International, Inc.
I You may have heard of i “hot” money or “sound” mon-1 ey, but “wet” money? Yet many of the Biloxi-Gulfport residents were mighty glad they jdid!
! The “wet” money, more than $20,000 of it, got soggy when six feet of water ravaged through the Pascagoula office of the Ingalls Employees Credit Union during Camille’s rampages.
Two days later the money was being used to take up! where Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and other relief services! left off...in helping the 10,0001 members of the credit union | with their emergency needs. |
The credit union would have! been open quicker except for i the jumbled furniture which | had to be picked up, the water-j swollen drawers which had to] be crowbarred open, and the j several feet of mud in the off-! ice which had to be hosed out. As it was, the $7 million Ingalls ! Credit Union—which normally handles all its transactions via electronic data processing—operated by hand for 10 days ; without power, lights or water iin the building!
i Credit Union Manager W.T. Avara Jr. recalls that manyi .dazed members were overjoyed j to receive the soggy cash loans' ■in a time when personal checks were worthless.
One of the most grateful was a Biloxi man who had lost everything . . . his house, his
■	iCar and all the furnishings. With a wife and 10 children, he couldn’t find a house anywhere to move in to . . . until the Ingalls company offered him the use of a house they owned. Then the credit union lent him $200 to buy groceries and to set up housekeeping.
Despite their overwhelming losses, many of the Ingalls members are showing unquenchable spirit, according to Avara. One young man whose house had been pulverized | came in to borrow $250 to buy a gas-powered saw. He figured he could clean the debris off his own property and then maybe earn back some of what he’d lost by helping other victims clear their property.
32—	The	Dairy	Herald
Biloxi-Gulfport, Miss. Wednesday, September 24, 1969
The jTmpjfe of waterlogged records in the foreground is the result of three feet of water from Hurricane Camille gushing into the office of the Gulfport VA Federal Credit Union. A member, Mrs. Pearl Niolet of Pass Christian (left) discusses finances with Mrs. Julia D. Reed, manager. Mrs. Niolet spent a harrowing night on Aug. 17 in the attic of her home trying to comfort her children while her husband sought to salvage belongings from swirling waters downstairs. Like others she is waiting to hear from the Small Business Administration and her insurance company before seeking other financial help.
(Photo By Diane W. Deichelbohrer)