2025 Hurricane Season Nears As U.S. and Caribbean Continue Rebuilding From 2024 Storms

Associated Press

13-05-2025

With the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially beginning on June 1, many communities across the United States and Caribbean are still recovering from the devastating impacts of the 2024 storm season.
Since Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton made landfall last year, Direct Relief has provided more than $50 million in aid to affected areas—$42 million in medical resources and $9 million in financial support.
Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl broke records in late June 2024 as the earliest Category 5 Atlantic storm, tearing from Grenada and Jamaica across the eastern Caribbean, brushing Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and finally striking Texas.
Direct Relief's support tracked the storm from beginning to end:
hurricane preparedness packPuerto Rico$3 million grant to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
Hurricanes Helene and Milton
Back-to-back hurricanes struck the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic in late 2024. Hurricane Helene, a powerful Category 4 storm, hit Florida's Big Bend region on September 29 before sweeping through Georgia, the Carolinas, and into Virginia.
Just days later, Hurricane Milton followed a similar path, exacerbating the damage left behind. Together, the storms caused deadly tornadoes, widespread flooding, and left millions without power.
Since landfall, Direct Relief has provided more than $32 million in assistance, including $27 million in medical aid and $5.8 million in financial support to health providers across the hardest-hit states.
State-by-State Support:
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Direct Relief delivered hundreds of specifically requested shipments to more than 90 healthcare facilities across Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Supplies included antibiotics, medications for chronic conditions, epinephrine, vaccines, personal protective equipment, oral rehydration salts, and water purification tablets.
In North Carolina, Direct Relief staff personally delivered support to NC MedAssist, a statewide charitable pharmacy serving uninsured patients. The organization received tetanus vaccines for cleanup crews, epinephrine for insect-sting reactions, and field medic packs for mobile health outreach.
With many facilities damaged, staff displaced, and access to utilities disrupted, Direct Relief issued emergency operating grants to help providers maintain services. Funding supported essential supplies, staffing, repairs, and care for patients with injuries, chronic conditions, mental health needs, and disrupted prenatal care.
Though less intense than initially feared, Hurricane Milton worsened conditions in already battered communities. Power outages, flooding, and tornadoes created urgent medical needs in places like the Spanish Lakes senior community, where Oceana Community Health deployed two mobile clinics even before the storm made landfall. Direct Relief supported the response with medical supplies and emergency funding.
2025 Hurricane Season: Looking Ahead
As the new hurricane season begins, Direct Relief remains committed not only to response, but to helping communities better withstand future storms.
That commitment includes strengthening local supply chains, expanding backup power capacity at healthcare facilities, and ensuring frontline providers have access to the resources needed to safeguard vulnerable populations.
By working in close coordination with trusted local partners and building on lessons from previous responses, Direct Relief continues to invest in scalable, high-impact solutions that protect health and improve disaster readiness—before, during, and after the storm.
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