Gina Thornton and Art Uzzell paddle away from their business located near Hwy 117 on Oct. 12, 2016 in Goldsboro, N.C. They were grabbing items from the office they thought they might need in the coming days. Waters from the cresting Neuse River closed many of Goldsboro's main streets as it crests from torrential rains last Saturday. (Chuck Liddy, Raleigh News & Observer/TNS)
Gina Thornton and Art Uzzell paddle away from their business located near Hwy 117 on Oct. 12, 2016 in Goldsboro, N.C. They were grabbing items from the office they thought they might need in the coming days. Waters from the cresting Neuse River closed many of Goldsboro's main streets as it crests from torrential rains last Saturday. (Chuck Liddy, Raleigh News & Observer/TNS)
A National Guard vehicle drives through flood waters on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 at the Wyndham Circle duplex complex in Greenville, N.C. (Chris Seward, Raleigh News & Observer/TNS)
WASHINGTON — Two groups of Department of Veterans Affairs personnel drove into flood-damaged North Carolina on Thursday to offer medical care and counseling to veterans affected by Hurricane Matthew, said Kevin Thompson, acting director of the VA Office of Emergency Management.
The hurricane triggered flooding that has left 38 people dead in the United States, 22 of them in North Carolina, according to The Associated Press.
“People have to evacuate and they weren’t able to take their meds, or maybe they lost their medication, glasses or hearing aids in the flood damage. Then there’s others on dialysis who we need to get them back to be dialyzed,” Thompson said. “It’s difficult to get around in North Carolina. Veterans may not be able to get to the clinics, so we’re trying to take our services out closer to them.”
One mobile clinic set up about noon Thursday in Laurinburg, adjacent to the hard-hit Robeson County in North Carolina.
Ahead of Hurricane Matthew’s landfall in the southeast United States, VA health care systems from Florida through North Carolina closed their medical centers and smaller clinics.
The only clinic still closed Thursday was Robeson County Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Pembroke. Thompson said it was still without power or water. It’s expected to reopen in the next two days.
Robeson was one of 31 counties that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory requested be declared a federal disaster. More than 140 members of the North Carolina National Guard and 110 law enforcement officers had responded to Robeson County, and truckloads of supplies had been shipped into the county, the North State Journal newspaper reported Thursday.
The other VA mobile clinic was traveling toward Tarboro, North Carolina at about 3 p.m. Thursday but was having trouble reaching the town.
Area officials have been closely monitoring the Tar River, which borders Tarboro and other towns and was nearing crest stage. Some residents of nearby Princeville had evacuated that town Wednesday and took shelter in Tarboro High School, according to The Washington Post.
“The big challenge we’re facing right now is road closures,” Thompson said.
He estimated the VA clinic would be opened sometime Friday.
Both clinics will operate from Wal-Mart parking lots.
The mobile clinics look similar to large recreational vehicles, Thompson said, and are outfitted with two exam rooms. The clinics are each equipped with generators, potable water and a satellite network, which allows the health care providers to tap into veterans’ medical records, Thompson said.
Besides physicians, nurses and pharmacists in the mobile clinics, counselors will be sent out through both areas in vans, he said.
“Going through something like this is very emotionally impactful,” Thompson said. “There were a number of deaths in the impact area. Maybe they knew someone who lost their life, or they’re injured -- counseling can help them through that process.”
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