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Hancock Bank opens for bay area customers, just like it did after Katrina

 
From right to left, Regional President Tim Coop, customer service manager Dave Feliu, teller Terri Leonard, and retail operations manager Lynn Stodgell. (Adam C. Smith  |  Times)
From right to left, Regional President Tim Coop, customer service manager Dave Feliu, teller Terri Leonard, and retail operations manager Lynn Stodgell. (Adam C. Smith | Times)
Published Sept. 11, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, Hancock Bank drew national attention for its efforts to meet the local community's needs. The day after Katrina hit and before the Gulfport, Miss.-based bank had power or access to records, it started distributing cash to clients and non-clients alike, in exchange for IOUs scribbled on scraps of paper.

"They were really involved in helping the community, not only financially but also with water supplies, gas supplies — really entrenched in the community," Lynn Stodgell, retail operations leader for Hancock Bank, recounted Monday as she and her colleagues worked to make sure Hancock was open for business in Pinellas and Manatee counties, as quickly as possible after Irma left town.

"The idea of being there for the community immediately after a disaster is something that's very important, culturally ingrained. We view it as a critical part of our role in the community," said Tim Coop, Hancock's regional president, noting how Katrina had a profound effect on both Hancock and New Orleans-based Whitney Bank, which merged with Hancock in 2010.

The bank opened branches in Bradenton and Fourth Street N in St. Petersburg on Monday, and Coop said the first walk-in customer was a woman who had driven all day from the East coast, hunting for open gas stations and working cash machines.