Western North Carolina is trying to pick up the pieces left behind by Hurricane Helene, which decimated the region, leaving communities destroyed and a death toll in the triple digits.
This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together.
The worst example is a social media post Trump made on Monday, in which he accused the federal government and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas. MAGA!” That same day, Trump also posted that the Biden administration has “left Americans to drown” in North Carolina and other states.
Then, in an interview with his former adviser Kellyanne Conway, Trump doubled down on his claim, saying the government is “going out of their way to hurt” Trump voters in Western North Carolina. They’re not getting water, they’re not getting anything,” Trump said.
GOP Gov. Lee: There's a lot of misinformation on disaster relief right now. In fact, there's some belief that it may be coming from foreign sources to confuse people. Look, FEMA is working alongside local officials to deliver relief to people. They are committed to serving the… pic.twitter.com/9eWeJmwKEE
“We’re talking about a guy who runs multiple companies that are under investigation by Government regulator, I think of something like NHTSA, which is investigating Tesla for its self driving, and the FAA, which is investigating Space X…”
Not fun and games anymore. Helene disinformation is hurting responses, responders, and those who need help. It’s gone beyond Jewish Space Lasers – the new MAGA meme is that “Man can’t have any effect on climate, but Deep State liberals can create and steer Hurricanes”. Georgia Lt Governor, and officials on the ground push back. Please share the resources I’m posting here to push back on dangerous and destructive BS.
A Republican senator in the North Carolina legislature has issued a public plea for people to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the disaster recovery efforts in areas ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene.
In a Thursday afternoon Facebook post, state Sen. Kevin Corbin, who represents the state’s westernmost area, asked his followers for a favor: “Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in WNC.”
Corbin listed several examples: “FEMA is stealing money from donations, body bags ordered but government has denied, bodies not being buried, government is controlling the weather from Antarctica, government is trying to get lithium from WNC, stacks of bodies left at hospitals, and on and on and on.”
Since making landfall last week and churning inland, the storm has killed more than 200 people across six states, with more than 70 of those deaths in Asheville and western North Carolina.
The conspiracy theories and misinformation about the federal government’s response to the disaster have gotten so out of control that the Federal Emergency Management Agency created an entire page on its website, “Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response,” aimed at countering unverified claims circulating online.
“Misinformation always affects the people who are trying to help and the people who need the help,” Willie Nunn, a senior FEMA official currently helping to lead the disaster response in South Carolina, told HuffPost.
Jennifer Griffin is Chief National Security Correspondent at Fox, and is reputed as one of the “real journalists” on the staff.
Her reporting on National Security issues has always been well grounded.
She has a thread pushing back on Helene disinformation, that, regrettably, her colleagues on the “anger-tainment” side of the network continue to push.
FACT SHEET: FEMA has already helped thousands of Hurricane Helene survivors jumpstart their recoveries with more than $110 million in federal assistance. More than 6,400 personnel from across the federal workforce are deployed, including FEMA staff. To date, FEMA has shipped over 13.2million meals, more than 13.4 million liters of water, 157 generators and more than 492,000 tarps to the region. MORE
Support for North Carolina Financial Support: FEMA has provided more than $26 million in housing and other types of assistance to over 25,000 households.
Staffing: In North Carolina, more than 700 FEMA staff are on the ground, with more arriving daily. Over 1,200 Urban Search and Rescue personnelare in North Carolina helping people. As of today, these teams haverescued or supported over 3,200 survivors. Dozens of Disaster Survivor Assistance staff are on the ground in affected areas to help survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connect them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources. Over 1,000 National Guard Bureau troops have deployed to North Carolina to support response and recovery efforts. To date, troops have delivered nearly one million pounds of food, water and other supplies. Experienced FEMA leaders from around the country are in the field to bolster response efforts. Field Coordinating Officer Thomas McCool, Region 3 Regional Administrator MaryAnn Tierney, Region 7 Regional Administrator Andrea Spillars and Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans are on the ground overseeing response operations.
Even as the full scale of devastation in the mountainous regions of North Carolina and Tennessee remains unknown, it’s clear that Hurricane Helene is one of the deadliest and most destructive storms in recent U.S. history. As of Friday, the storm had caused at least 180 deaths and destroyed or damaged many thousands of homes and other buildings.
In a preliminary damage estimate released on Thursday, the private forecaster AccuWeather pegged the financial cost of Hurricane Helene’s damages at $225 to $250 billion, more than double what it estimated in the first days after the storm made landfall in Florida last week — and far more than recent major hurricanes like 2012’s Sandy and 2017’s Harvey. That massive number includes the cost of rebuilding homes, businesses, roads, and infrastructure in the storm’s path from Florida to Tennessee, as well as the wages and economic output that will be lost during the yearslong rebuild.
High end Cat 2 ‘cane will hit Florida’s west coast, after the area has been saturated already by soaking rains. Impacts are path-dependent, but big storm surge threat to Tampa Bay, which is still digging out from Helene.
Alert: #Milton may threaten #TampaBay midweek. I’m not an alarmist, it takes a lot to get my attention. This has it. If Milton landfalls at or just north of Tampa Bay as a cat 2-3 hurricane, it means up to double #Helene storm surge. And extensive, long term power outages 1/ pic.twitter.com/yjhDNfmP6t
This is a BIG problem for the Tampa and Fort Myers, FL area. A fast-moving, sling shotting, rapidly-intensifying Hurricane #Milton will have serious storm surge and wind impacts depending on the exact track. Many models show cat 2+ at landfall Wednesday morning. This will be a… pic.twitter.com/zJTzTiI5D1
Best way to think about it is that Florida will see a one-two punch. The first one will bring us rain Sunday into Monday with an area of low pressure along a stalled out front. Then the 2nd, main punch from tropical storm or hurricane approaches on Tuesday into Wednesday.… pic.twitter.com/cHZww4fjoC
WBIR Knoxville, Tennessee report on disinformation
Those working on the ground, local Politicians of both parties, are speaking up against disinformation about the post Helene recovery effort, and the storm itself. Local TV News stations have a special role in this, as they have credibility that national news reports may lack to area residents.
That is not, so far, stopping outlets like Fox News, and bad actors like Donald Trump, from repeating conspiracy theories aimed at confusing, and enraging voters.
In one of the more dishonest omissions ever seen on Fox News – which is saying something – viewers of Thursday’s episodes of The Ingraham Angle, Jesse Watters Primetime, and Hannity were left with the impression that victims of Hurricane Helene are getting shafted by the federal government.
Fox News has been working feverishly to reelect Donald Trump, whose false election claims the network promoted and, in return, got the business end of a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case last year. For Fox News, it’s the cost of doing business.
To wit, on Thursday, Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters aired a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris speaking in hurricane-ravaged Georgia the previous day. As Harris spoke on Ingraham’s show, the Fox News chyron read, “Kamala: Here’s $750 that’ll do the trick.”
“Federal relief and assistance that we have been providing has included FEMA providing $750 for folks who need immediate needs being met, such as food, baby formula, and the like, an–”
The clip Ingraham played was cut mid-sentence – not because what was next wasn’t relevant. It was. The clip was cut so Ingraham could mislead her viewers.
“Imagine losing your house, your transportation, basic necessities, and women looking for diapers,” Ingraham said. “Most stores, by the way, in the area are wiped out. And all you’re getting right now is a $750 check she referenced from the federal government? The government you have been sending taxes to for your entire life? Yeah, and where they gonna buy that baby food, Kamala?”
