VHA Office of Emergency Management

A large tornado (Stock Photo)

A series of devastating tornadoes struck several states March 14-16 that resulted in dozens of deaths, prompting crisis response from VA leaders and emergency managers. The storms caused catastrophic damage to homes and infrastructure that led to widespread power outages and leaving many residents displaced. The more than 100 tornadoes, some rated as ESF4s, occurred throughout the weekend with the strongest winds reaching about 190 mph.

In Missouri and Mississippi, several VA medical centers, such as the John J. Pershing VAMC and nearby Cripple Creek clinic in Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Veteran and VA staff homes suffered damage from the tornadoes. Two Veterans Integrated Service Networks, regional systems that coordinate VA facilities and resources to ensure veterans receive comprehensive and integrated healthcare services, were significantly impacted by the storms.    

Medical center staff in VISN 15 and 16 immediately performed Veteran outreach, contacting hundreds of vulnerable patients, such as mental health, home tele-health, and home-based primary care, assigned to the impacted areas.

Regardless of the damages, Fabian Grabski, deputy director of the VA St. Louis Healthcare System and interim director of John. J. Pershing VAMC in VISN 15, ensured hospital operations could move forward without interruption, avoiding closures and canceled appointments at medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics.

“Our VA staff, even those personally impacted by these tornadoes, immediately jumped into action to support the response,” said Grabski. “It was incredible to see our people come together so quickly to make sure our Veterans’ care would go uninterrupted.”

Derek McDonald, a Veterans Health Administration area emergency manager assigned to the Office of Emergency Management, was well-prepared to deploy to Poplar Bluff, Mo.   

“When I saw the magnitude of these storms, I knew I had to be ready to go,” McDonald said. “I immediately made contact with the impacted facility and made arrangements to deploy and support the medical center director to coordinate emergency management resources as well as facilitating any assistance needed with the hospital incident command system.”

VHA OEM maintains very close monitoring of situations like this and regularly provide situational awareness to leaders, so that informed decisions can be made, and coordination for critical resources occur. McDonald arrived with a logistics support vehicle, capable of providing a generator and fuel to power units deployed to support areas impacted by incidents and supported situational awareness reporting of the ongoing response efforts.

In VISN 16, emergency managers took to the Tylertown, Miss. community in Walthall County to visit Veterans at shelters. One of the emergency managers, Jennifer Fincannon, an AEM assigned to VHA OEM and located in Jackson, Miss., recalled her encounters with Veterans impacted by the tornadoes.

“We had the opportunity to meet with five different Veterans and their families,” said Fincannon. “Two of those Veterans were not enrolled in VA health care, but we were able to enroll them. Three of the Veterans and their families still had no power or water.”

Fincannon quickly arrived with a LSV to assist with locating Veterans and helping them through the situation. She said VEText, a communication resource generally used for VA patient reminders, was used as one method for contacting the vulnerable patients within the impacted areas.

Jeffrey Haycraft, a Veteran located in Brandon, Miss., said he was pleasantly surprised to receive a notification from the VA concerning the tornadoes. Haycraft said it was the very first time he received a severe weather warning from the VA.

“Some Veterans experienced major damage or total loss of their homes,” Fincannon said. “We supported them with coordinating any medical resources they needed, such as medications or counseling services.”  

While conducting her rounds in the impacted areas, Fincannon described the immense damage to the communities, including the home of a 95-year-old Korean War Veteran.

“He [the Korean War Veteran] was laying in his bed taking a nap when the tornado hit,” she said. “His grandson dug him out of the debris and found that he had only small cuts and bruises. He was in good spirits and mentally sharp as a tack.”

Aside from the tornadoes, the impacted areas experienced about 1,000 reports of large hail and either damaging or strong thunderstorm wind gusts during the outbreak. The National Weather Service reported that more than 900 tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued by local offices during the outbreak.

Visit https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes for information on actions to take before, during, and after a tornado. Veterans can learn more about available programs available to them following disasters by visiting https://www.disasterassistance.gov/information/veterans and https://news.va.gov/132965/disaster-assistance-and-resources-for-veterans/.  


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