MIRAMAR, Fla. – In the Sunshine State, where the "big one" seems to hit again and again, one of the state's largest credit unions has prepared for hurricane season in a big way.

Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union (www.effcu.com) has readied for action a set of mobile recovery units that provide about 4,000 square-feet of working area and 250 networked PCs and can be rolled in and set up within 72 hours (based on road conditions) of a formal declaration of disaster at the Miramar headquarters. "Our disaster recovery plan is a living document and our mobile recovery units are an integral part of that plan," says Syed Ali, the $1.9 billion CU's AVP/manager of technology services. The units, which could be coming from a vendor with hubs in Texas, Georgia or Massachusetts, contain essential PBX phone communications capabilities, computer networking gear and work areas that can handle about half of the credit union's staff at any given time. They'd be set up at "hitching posts" to allow for electrical service and conventional and satellite communications, and also have onboard generators in case city power is unavailable. The computer network inside the modular units mirrors the network inside the credit union's six-floor building. Eastern Financial also has a warm site for backup in Pennsylvania and tight integration between the three operations requires a close relationship between those vendors, the credit union and its core processor, Fidelity National.

"Speed is the name of the game, so we work closely together to make sure everything is configured in advance," Ali says.