Disaster Assistance for Veterans

Hurricane Milton is expected to hit Florida late Tuesday/early Wednesday and is currently a category 5 storm. Track it at #Milton resources| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa.gov). The hurricane is anticipated to cause severe damage and VA facilities will be closed or impacted. This email will help answer your questions about VA disaster assistance. If you need help determining where to go for care or have questions about VA resources available to you, call 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411).

Si necesita ayuda para determinar a dónde ir para recibir atención o cuidado o tiene preguntas sobre los recursos de VA disponibles, llame al 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411).

Natural disasters may impact your ability to reach us by phone. If you think your life or health is in danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. If you have non-urgent questions, you can reach VA through the VA Health & Benefits App or My HealtheVet secure messaging to schedule an appointment, refill prescriptions, and access your medical records.

You can also send us your questions through the secure Ask VA online tool. A VA representative who’s familiar with the topic you’re asking about will respond.

Health Care
Check the operating status of VA facilities in the Florida Area.

If your health is impacted by a disaster, please contact your local VA.

VISN 8 Clinical Contact Center (VA Health Connect) 1-877-741-3400

The VISN 8 Clinical Contact Center provides 24/7/365 virtual urgent and tele-emergency care to Veterans enrolled for VA Health Care in Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Veterans who receive care in the network can call 1-877-741-3400 around the clock to get their health questions or concerns addressed from the comfort and convenience of their home, or wherever they may be. Services include general administrative support, nurse triage, pharmacy, virtual visits with a doctor or nurse practitioner, and more.

Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 then Press 1, text to 838255, chat online. Support for deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889.

Housing
If you or a Veteran you know needs immediate housing assistance in the aftermath of a natural disaster, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans (available 24/7): 1-877-424-3838.

The VA Specially Adapted Housing Program may be able to assist you in funding home repairs after a disaster.

VA can ask home loan lenders to put a 90-day freeze on foreclosure or encourage waiving late charges for VA home loans. Visit the VA home loans webpage to learn more.

Compensation and Claims
If you’re unable to receive a benefit payment after a disaster, contact the VA National Call Center at 1-800-827-1000 to request a special one-time payment.

Note: If natural disasters disrupt the timeliness of receiving your claims paperwork or gathering information from you, you won’t be penalized for subsequent mail delays. You can also submit claims and upload other relevant information through your VA.gov account.

Employment
If you’re a displaced Veteran and receive VA employment services, you may qualify for two additional months of Employee Adjustment Allowance. Contact your local VA regional office to speak with a Veteran Readiness & Employment specialist to learn more.

Education
If your school closes temporarily due to a disaster, VA may continue payments. Contact GI Bill specialists Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT at 1-888-442-4551.

• Students using Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 GI Bill) or Chapter 35 (Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance Program): If the enrollment was submitted prior to the recent disaster, no further action is necessary to continue to receive benefits.
• Students Using Chapter 30 or 1606 (Montgomery GI Bill) and students using Chapter 33 who are attending Non-College Degree programs and receive monthly housing allowance or kickers should continue to verify their attendance as if the school did not close to ensure benefits are not affected.

Note: If your school remains open, but you’re unable to attend (i.e., if you had to relocate because of the natural disaster), VA is unable to continue GI Bill benefit payments. When you’re no longer pursuing classes, your school must report the termination to VA as soon as possible.

Insurance
VA assists those affected by a natural disaster through such options as instant loan approval online and expedited same-day processing for policy loans.

In addition, we expedite same-day processing and approval for:

• Withdrawals from dividend credit and deposit accounts
• Extension of premium payment grace period
• Extension of reinstatement deadlines
• Processing death claims

The Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) follows disaster alerts issued by each state’s Department of Insurance in the event of natural disaster. These alerts generally provide a moratorium on lapsing or extending premium payments.

To learn more, call VA’s Insurance Center at 1-800-669-8477.

Fraud
Unfortunately, some predators use natural disasters and emergencies—including disaster response imposters and scammers claiming they are charities to fake emergency loans— as opportunities to target Veterans. Protect yourself and others by reviewing these fraud prevention tips, calling the VSAFE fraud hotline at 1-833-388-7233 or visiting the VSAFE website.

---

FEMA & Local Information

Florida Hurricanes| FEMA.gov

Home | Florida Disaster

Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs (FDVA)

• State Veterans’ Service Officers in Florida are available by calling 1-727-319-7440 or by email at FDVA.VSO@FDVA.FL.GOV. 
•  Visit www.FloridaVets.org for information. Follow FDVA on X (Twitter) and Facebook for hurricane-related messaging impacting Florida Veterans. 

Food Assistance

United Way:

• Food Programs & Food Benefits | United Way 211

Red Cross:

• Disaster Shelters | Find Shelters | American Red Cross
• 1800-RED-CROSS (733-2767); Users are encouraged to download the Emergency App by texting “GETEMERGENCY” TO 90999
• Services for Veterans | American Red Cross | Veterans Assistance or text: “GETHEROCARE” to 90999

Salvation Army:

• https://disaster.salvationarmyusa.org/HeleneServiceLocations or contact your local Salvation Army
• You can search via zip code for your local Salvation Army here: The Salvation Army USA

Find a Safe Transportation Route

Incident List: Florida Traffic Events | View Live Florida Traffic Events | FL511

Map: FL511| Florida Traffic | Commuter Information

---

If your business is (or you know of another business) owned by a veteran (VOB), active duty military, reservist or military spouse of the United States, Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard or National Guard, please be sure to visit the sign up page to get your membership and business’ profile.

The objective of our FREE Veteran Owned Business Directory is to continue to offer a growing list of products and services that are unique in the fact that they are all owned by, sold by and/or serviced by past and present military members!

Be sure to check out our new national and state Veteran Owned Business Certification and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB) section or our VOB/SDVOSB Certifications by State.