Hurricanes are increasing in frequency and severity, putting more communities at risk for damage to property and health.  A new study by University of Iowa researchers evaluated whether exposure to hurricanes is associated with cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) and respiratory (lung) events among United States veterans.

Veterans may be more susceptible to the health impacts of hurricanes because of prior military exposures, advancing age, and higher smoking prevalence. The study was published online April 17, 2026, in JAMA Network Open.

The investigators evaluated data from more than 1 million U.S. veterans enrolled in Veteran Health Administration primary care in areas affected by Hurricanes Sandy or Harvey. The research team looked at subsequent cardiovascular events (CVEs) and respiratory events (REs), including heart attack, stroke, asthma, pneumonia, and other conditions, that required urgent care and/or emergency department visits or in-patient admissions.

The findings showed that veterans’ exposure to Hurricanes Sandy or Harvey was not significantly associated with cardiovascular or respiratory events. Instead, higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage, which includes factors such as income, education, employment, and housing quality; age; and sex were factors associated with CVEs and REs.

“These findings suggest that disaster preparedness policies should shift from a reactive model toward a longitudinal strategy that addresses baseline social determinants of health and regional environmental hazards,” the authors wrote in the paper.

The study also demonstrates the importance of considering preexisting regional differences and illustrates how prior health status can modify the associations between hurricanes and adverse health outcomes, the authors noted.

The research team included Caryn Yip and Peter Thorne, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health; Peter Kaboli, Department of Internal Medicine and Iowa City Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; Michael Jones, Department of Biostatistics and Iowa City Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; and Margaret Carrel, School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability.