Cooperative comebacks: resilience in the face of the Hurricane Katrina Catastrophe (New Orleans and Southern Mississippi, May 2005–May 2006)

Millions of lives were dramatically changed by Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Numerous businesses were wiped out. People lost their homes, their livelihoods, their lives. Nearly two years after Katrina, some sectors of the aff ected region have proved to be more resilient than others. Th rough the able data collection and analysis of Mark Klinedinst, an economics professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, this report examines the plight of credit unions in the face of this disaster. Klinedinst compares credit unions with banks in southern Mississippi and in New Orleans at both the aggregate and case study levels. Klinedinst argues that analyzing credit unions under this kind of duress may be useful in identifying cooperative strengths and weaknesses that are not apparent under normal circumstances. These findings may assist credit unions with larger contingency planning as it relates to disaster preparedness.