After the deluge, the lies: Misinformation and hoaxes hinder Helene recovery
The facts emerging from Hurricane Helene’s destruction are heartrending: Businesses and homes destroyed, whole communities nearly wiped out, hundreds of lives lost, hundreds of people missing.
Yet this devastation and despair are not enough for the extremist groups, disinformation agents, hucksters and politicians who are exploiting the disaster to spread false claims and conspiracy theories about it and the government’s response.
Former President Trump falsely claims the federal government is intentionally withholding aid to Republican disaster victims. Far-right extremist groups falsely warn on social media that officials plan to bulldoze affected communities and seize the land. A tale straight from science fiction asserts that Washington used weather control technology to steer Helene toward Republican voters in order to tilt the presidential election.
The claims, according to experts and local officials, say less about the reality of the widespread damage from Helene than they do about America’s fractured politics and the fear and distrust shadowing an election year marked by assassination attempts and escalating global tension.
At least 121 deaths in six Southeastern states have been attributed to the storm, a number that climbed Monday as a clearer picture emerged of the damage.
As rescue work continues and authorities try to separate fact from fiction, the conspiracy theories are not helping. Elected leaders from both parties have had to set the record straight and urge people not to give into fear and rumor.
“If everyone could maybe please put aside the hate for a bit and pitch in to help, that would be great,” posted Glenn Jacobs, the retired professional wrestler known as Kane, who is now the Republican mayor of Knox County, Tenn. Jacobs’ post was intended to rebut false rumors that workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were seizing relief supplies from private citizens.
Many of the conspiracy theories focus on hard-hit North Carolina, a state key to winning the White House. Rumors circulated that FEMA was raiding storm donations and withholding body bags. One claim suggested federal authorities would condemn the entire town of Chimney Rock and prohibit resettlement in order to commandeer a valuable lithium mine nearby.
Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, has made claims dismissed as false by officials. So has North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the embattled GOP nominee for governor. And in his making his claims, Trump has ignored reports and photo and video evidence of aid and recovery efforts underway throughout the region.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — the InfoWars founder who, popularized the false idea that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut that killed 20 children in 2012 was faked — has endorsed Trump’s fact-free allegations.
As the death toll passed 150, searchers fanned out, using helicopters to get past washed-out bridges and hiking through wilderness to reach isolated homes.
State-run media and disinformation campaigns run by China and Russia have amplified false and misleading claims about the response to the storm. Both countries have used social media and state news stories to criticize responses to past U.S. natural disasters, part of a larger effort to stoke division and distrust among Americans.
State and local officials from both parties have condemned the conspiracy theories, saying the focus should be on recovery, not political division and hearsay. Responding to the hoaxes is taking up time that should go toward assisting victims, said North Carolina state Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Republican who urged his constituents not to give into hoaxes.
“Friends, can I ask a small favor?” Corbin posted Thursday on Facebook. “Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet... Please don’t let these crazy stories consume you.”
North Carolina officials say the response to Helene is the largest in state history, including thousands of members of the National Guard and other recovery workers, millions of meals, dozens of aircraft and more than 1,000 chainsaws.
Trump has tried to tie the hurricane’s aftermath to immigration, a leading issue of his campaign. He falsely claimed that FEMA had run out of money because all of it had gone to programs for undocumented immigrants.
The agency’s funding for disaster aid is stretched, but that is because of the many parts of the country dealing with the effects of hurricanes, wildfires and other calamities. Disaster aid is funded separately from other Department of Homeland Security programs that support immigration-related spending.
Bizarre stories proposing that the government used weather control technology to aim the hurricane at Republican voters quickly racked up millions of views on social media. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) endorsed the idea, posting Wednesday on X: “Yes they can control the weather.”
Far-out tales of space lasers, fake snow and weather control technology — sometimes tinged with antisemitism — have spread after recent natural disasters, including a snowstorm in Texas and wildfires in Hawaii and California.
Experts who study conspiracy theories say big events like disasters — or the Sept. 11 attacks or the COVID-19 pandemic — create perfect conditions for conspiracy theories to spread because large numbers of anxious people are eager to find explanations for shocking events.
Responding to the volume of false claims about Helene, the Red Cross urged people to consult trustworthy sources of information and to think twice before reposting conspiracy theories.
“Sharing rumors online without first vetting the source and verifying facts ultimately hurts people — people who have just lost their homes, neighborhoods, and, in some cases, loved ones,” the organization wrote in a public plea.
Klepper writes for the Associated Press.
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