Disaster Recovery Plan Put to the Test
On May 4, 2007, an EF5 tornado ripped through the town of Greensburg. Ninety-five percent of the town was destroyed including numerous homes, businesses, the school, and the hospital. Three Kansas banks are located in Greensburg. The Greensburg State Bank, a branch of Centera Bank, Sublette, and a branch of The Peoples Bank, Pratt serve the Greensburg community and surrounding areas. All three banks occupied locations on Main Street and all were either partially or totally destroyed. The vaults of all the banks withstood the storm and remained intact. Law enforcement provided protection of the vaults for all three institutions.
Immediately after the tornado, all three banks began actively working through their disaster recovery plans, implementing those plans to arrange alternative buildings to house their banking activities. Employees of Greensburg State Bank, whose charter and only office is located in Greensburg, arrived on Main Street in front of their building with a folding table and a cash box the Monday morning after the tornado. Cash disbursements were made, as well as a few loans, and some deposits were accepted. As this bank lost its computer system to the storm, bank officials had to make arrangements for a back-up computer to be delivered and set up in a neighboring town. Centera Bank and Peoples Bank opened temporary facilities in Mullinville and Haviland, respectively, to provide services to their customers. Additionally, all three banks had modular banking units brought in to the city within two weeks after the tornado. Peoples Bank and Centera Bank located their modulars on Highway 54, while the unit of Greensburg State was placed at the back part of their existing location on Main Street.
The OSBC examining staff from Dodge City made a trip to Greensburg on May 7, 2007 to visit the bank locations and offer assistance. A follow up visit by Commissioner Tom Thull and Deputy Bank Commissioner Judi Stork on June 4, 2007 allowed them to call on the banks in the new locations and to see first hand the devastation of the city and the destruction to the banking facilities. At each location bankers shared their personal stories of the tornado, their plans about rebuilding, and their hopes for the town of Greensburg. All the bankers emphasized the importance the bank's business continuity and disaster recovery planning played in getting the bank back up and running. The plans worked as they were meant to.
