The devastation around Hurricanes Helene and Milton has been complicated further by false and misleading information, much of it politically motivated
Back-to-back hurricanes that brought death and devastation to parts of the South were made worse by a wide range of false and misleading information, some of which still circulates even though they have been conclusively proven false.
Coming in the closing weeks of a hard-fought presidential election, the false information became political fodder, particularly in swing states hit hard by Hurricane Helene and then Hurricane Milton. Former President Donald Trump has pushed a litany of false claims at campaign events and on social media with his supporters helping give voice to the information.
Federal, state and local officials, including several Republicans, have condemned the false information, noting that it has made it more difficult to address the needs of those hurt by the hurricanes.
Here’s a look at the facts around some of the most pervasive misinformation.
CLAIM: The government used weather technology to create Hurricanes Helene and Milton, deliberately targeting Republican voters.
THE FACTS: Both hurricanes were natural phenomena. Humans do not have the technology to control such vast weather systems. Hurricanes are hitting many of the same areas they have for centuries.
Fully developed hurricanes release massive amounts of heat energy — the equivalent of a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes, according to National Hurricane Center tropical analysis chief Chris Landsea.
“If meteorologists could stop hurricanes, we would stop hurricanes,” said Kristen Corbosiero, a professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany. “If we could control the weather, we would not want the kind of death and destruction that’s happened.”
Historical efforts to control hurricanes have failed. For example, between the 1960s and ’80s, the federal government toyed with the idea of making storms bigger in size but weaker in intensity. But tests were inconclusive and researchers realized if they made storms larger they would put more people at risk. A 1947 attempt by General Electric and the U.S. military in which dry ice was dropped by Air Force planes into the path of a hurricane in an attempt to weaken it also didn’t work.
CLAIM: The federal government did not respond to Hurricane Helene and intentionally withheld aid to victims in Republican areas.
THE FACTS: Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, have actively supported recovery efforts.
Biden approved major disaster declarations for Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, allowing survivors to access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery immediately.
