LARGE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WARNED OF POSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACKS

Federal Government Officials have recently warned a number of large financial institutions of possible terrorist attacks in Washington, New York and Newark, New Jersey. WDHN spoke with Southtrust Bank President Mark O-Mary here in Dothan, who says their corporation is taking this new threat alert very seriously...not just in the larger, more densely populated areas, but also for the company`s smaller branches. Mr. O`Mary said that the bank has a Corporate Crisis Management Group that meets, and they have a business plan to try to react if there were any type of problem. Not only has Southtrust tightened its security belt for possible man-made disasters, but also for natural ones...with a tornado in Daleville a couple of years ago that destroyed the branch there, and a flood in Elba which put that branch under water. Since the color-coded terror threat level elevated from yellow to orange this week, News 18 also spoke to a local political analyst to find out what that means for Americans across the nation. Dr. Richard Martin, with Troy Unversity in Dothan, says Americans should be concerned...but the chances of something actually happening right here in our area is extremely slim...he does add though, that it`s not something we should ignore.