Melvin Juarbe, right, attempts to assist an unidentified driver whose car stalled in floodwaters from Hurricane Helene on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Madeira Beach, Fla. The men tried to pull the car to dry land with their pickup truck but have opted to call AAA after several failed attempts. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs has closed dozens of clinics in Florida through Friday and is taking steps to ensure hospital patients are safe ahead of Hurricane Helene, which is forecasted to make landfall Thursday night along the state’s Gulf Coast.
The agency is preparing for Hurricane Helene in the Tampa Bay region and across the Florida Panhandle, which is in the northwest corner of the state, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said Thursday morning at a news conference.
“Veterans who are in the path of the storm should take it seriously and heed the advice of local authorities,” he said.
The Category 2 hurricane was about 320 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla., Thursday morning with maximum wind strength of about 100 mph. Coastal communities already were reporting strong winds and heavy rain.
The hurricane is forecast to strengthen to a Category 4 storm — with winds of 120 to 156 mph — before making landfall.
“Our teams have been reaching out to veterans with high-risk needs and to our employees,” McDonough said. “Direct communication with veterans in affected areas will continue.”
In-person appointments are canceled Thursday and Friday at the following VA health care centers — Bay Pines VA Health Care System in the St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay region, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and Clinics in Tampa and the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System.
McDonough said the VA has sent information on disaster resources to 810,000 Florida veterans who might be affected and will reach out to veterans in other states in the path of the storm.
VA hospitals and clinics are reporting they are well-supplied to handle the storm, he said.
An estimated 1.3 million veterans live in Florida, which has the third-highest veteran population in the United States.
Florida veterans can call 1-800-698-2411 if they did not receive information on disaster resources or go to www.va.gov/vetresources.
The VA also is alerting staff at facilities in other states to take precautions because they might be in the hurricane’s path.
VA hospitals and clinics in the following states were notified: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, McDonough said.
