Amidst the spread of misinformation following Hurricane Helene, authorities encourage residents to disregard such unsubstantiated theories.
A week ago, a powerful hurricane ripped through the southeastern USA, leaving a trail of destruction. Over 200 lives were lost, and several communities were cut off, while tens of thousands of people found themselves in need of assistance. Like in past calamities, the disrupted communications and the lack of verifiable information have led some people to cling to or even fabricate stories and rumors that help explain events that may not be instantly understandable, experts and officials confide.
Dr. David Harker, a professor and chair of Philosophy and Humanities at East Tennessee State University, explained, "When natural disasters hit, part of our reaction is to be fearful, and to be keen for any way to try and make sense of things." As a result, individuals grow increasingly hungry for any information that can help them understand a chaotic and petrifying world.
Among the rumors making the rounds in the wake of the hurricane is one that seems designed to exploit people's political leanings. A widely-shared rumor, propagated by former President Donald Trump and Twitter mogul Elon Musk, alleges that the federal government is seizing or misdirecting aid intended for Hurricane Helen relief efforts as part of a political scheme.
Neither Trump nor Musk provided any evidence to support their claims. Trump asserted earlier that week that the Biden administration, along with Democratic Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, are withholding relief funds because the areas most affected are Republican strongholds. Musk claimed, in a Twitter post, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is "actively blocking citizens who try to help."
Trump's accusations bear a striking resemblance to an act he himself engaged in as president. In 2019, Trump's administration diverted $155 million meant for FEMA disaster relief to support immigration enforcement.
State and local officials, including Republicans, criticized the same rumors. North Carolina Senator Kevin Corbin, who represents a district in the affected western portion of the state, posted a frustrated message on his Facebook page on Thursday:
"Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in [Western North Carolina]?" Corbin implored his followers, explaining that the rumors are "just a distraction to people trying to do their job."
Several state and federal agencies also issued pleas for clearer thinking. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency posted a "Misinformation Alert" on its Facebook page, assuring the public that state and federal agencies "are not confiscating supplies."
The American Red Cross published a lengthy tweet denying various rumors and stating that misinformation "disrupts our ability to deliver critical aid and affects the disaster workers who have put their lives on hold to assist those in need."
During a press conference on Friday, both Governor Cooper and FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell acknowledged that the rumors are having a real impact on recovery efforts on the ground. Cooper stated that allegations that the state government is neglecting its duties "demoralize" the hundreds of National Guard soldiers assisting in the recovery efforts: "When people talk on social media about nothing being done, that's just not true, and it's frustrating to them."
Criswell noted that false information might dissuade those in need from seeking help: "This level of misinformation creates the scenario where they won't even come to us. They won't even register, and I need people to register so they can get what they're eligible for through our programs."
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suggested that the misinformation may originate from foreign sources: "There's some belief and understanding that the root of the misinformation is 'foreign sources just to confuse on the ground what's happening here.'" Lee did not provide any evidence for this claim, and his spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, two prominent purveyors of misinformation and outlandish conspiracy theories are not shadowy foreign agents or bots. They are elected officials who represent some of the areas most impacted by the storm.
North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the state's embattled Republican gubernatorial nominee, has spent much of this week lashing out at his own state's response to the storm. In a tweet on Tuesday, Robinson claimed that "virtually every single aircraft currently running missions are privately owned. The few that aren't are owned by states other than North Carolina." This statement directly contradicted an earlier tweet from the North Carolina National Guard, which reported it had conducted 57 air missions and rescued over 400 people.
"Our Soldiers and Airmen are working 24 hours a day across a dozen counties to get North Carolinians the help they need," the state guard commander, Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
This is the paraphrased text with no additional comments or warnings.
"The staff at DOT will value the assistance from nearby residents, but how audacious of you to propose guiding them as a government department and utter lines like that!" retorted Ardis Watkins, the executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, in a statement.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, representing a district in North Georgia that was also impacted by the storm, casually suggested, without undeniable evidence, that a covert, enigmatic entity has the power to manipulate weather conditions, echoing her previous, unsubstantiated claim that the devastating California wildfires were sparked by alien technology.
The representative and her spokesperson did not promptly address our inquiries regarding their remarks this Friday.
Local news outlets have tirelessly labored to quell some of the preposterous speculations, conspiracy theories, and AI-produced visuals that have arisen from the storm. Regrettably, just as swiftly as one misconception is debunked, another appears, swamping callers with appeals to their representatives and potentially obstructing requests for urgent assistance, observed experts.
Although social media has facilitated the connection between storm survivors and aid, allowed them to contact their kin, and linked them to imperative resources, it has also amplified and accelerated the proliferation of the misinformation that authorities claim impedes recovery efforts, as pointed out by Harker, an East Tennessee State University professor.
"In my opinion, as a society, we're still trying to determine how to cope with this dichotomy, and certain social media platforms have implanted their fact-checking mechanisms, which have demonstrated varying levels of effectiveness," Harker remarked. "I believe it's particularly vexing that, during these challenging times, social media could serve as an inestimable source of accurate information."
In light of the hurricane, political rhetoric has become a tool for spreading misinformation. Former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been accused of propagating a rumor that the federal government is misdirecting aid for Hurricane Helen relief efforts as part of a political scheme, without providing any evidence.
This is not the first time such accusations have been made during a disaster. In 2019, Trump's administration diverted $155 million meant for FEMA disaster relief to support immigration enforcement.
