Hurricane Helene & misinformation
Hurricane Helene & misinformation
Claims include bodies stacked like cord wood, FEMA blocking rescue efforts
This past week, there has been a sea of reporting from a wide variety of sources on the devastation in western North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene.
Some of it is true. Some of it is false.
The first thing people should do when they see a report of something happening on the ground here in North Carolina is to consider the source.
For example, I’ve seen several posts on social media of small children caught in flood waters or allegedly in one of the impacted areas. At least two of them turned out to be AI generated images and the accounts posting them appear to be either a bot or of questionable origin outside of North Carolina.
One claim about FEMA denying the $750 emergency checks posted to X has been viewed a million times. The video in the post is from the Tik Tok account “BannedMagaMama,” who said they live in the “foothills” of the western NC mountains and that their FEMA application was denied. I could not locate that video on account’s Tik Tok page but the account posted a rebuttal to criticisms of the video. There is no immediate way to verify who this woman is, where she is, or any of her claims.
On the flip side, we’ve got people with high visibility and large followings like video journalist Nick Sortor, who called out President Biden for trying to take credit for reconnecting the town of Canton with Starlink services when it was Sortor and a storm chaser who had actually done that work.
A report out of Swannanoa, North Carolina, involving Florida Congressman Cory Mills seems to imply they haven’t seen any aid efforts. Mills has been very active on X about this, including claiming FEMA’s presence is largely missing. Scroll through his X timeline here and check out the interactions he had with the one FEMA truck he was able to locate documented in this video.
Another claim out there is that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has been impeding the dispatch of military troops to the disaster areas.
This X account’s profile describes the owner as “Interesting guy” // Editor-at-Large: @im_1776.” In other words, who the hell is this person really?
I have not yet been able to independently verify this claim but have received information from several sources making similar claims that Cooper did not immediately sign off on the Title 10 order which would release the military troops to get boots on the ground. Cooper’s website, however, does have a press release dated October 2 indicating President Biden had approved the state’s request for such an order. There is nothing in that press release indicating Cooper had to take additional steps beyond the president’s approval.
Is this true? Is this false? It would help matters quite a bit if the governor’s office would return requests for clarification.
In a nutshell, trust but verify the hell out of anything you see online.
More To The Story
North Carolina’s State Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat running to become the state’s governor this year, used his official NC Dept. of Justice account on X to urge people to resist rumors.
Stein points to FEMA, which set up a “rumor response” website to debunk certain claims circulating on line about that agency’s involvement or lack thereof. (NC Emergency Management also has its own version of the FEMA rumor response page.)
This FEMA debunk is important. Scamming, unfortunately, is a real thing and will be a serious issue going forward.
Tying the cash donations in with turning away volunteers is not a good way to address either topic. The above debunk does not make the distinction that there have been documented cases of volunteers being turned away in the initial days of rescue operations, but these instances appear to have involved local officials and not FEMA.
For example, the incident of an independent helicopter pilot being threatened with arrest in the Lake Lure area. This happened. This is a local North Carolina reporter getting to the bottom of it and is, frankly, one of the best run-downs of these claims I have seen yet.
Having said that, at least one of FEMA’s debunks is of the hair-splitting variety.
Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas literally said this past week FEMA is about out of money for this hurricane season, as reported by the Associated Press.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” Mayorkas said. “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”
This revelation sparked interest into where FEMA spends it’s money.
As it turns out, FEMA money is involved in settling illegal aliens in the U.S. through its “Shelter and Services” program.
The program’s webpage lists $330 million in FY 2024 so far and $368.8 million in FY 2023.
There are links to see where that money goes.
In 2023, it was a mix of local and state entities along with the bulk going to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which are facilitating travel, shelter, and more for illegal aliens.
In 2024, the awards were similar in round one, but round to awards have mainly gone out to major cities like NYC and Chicago. In fact, nearly $41 million has gone out in round two.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about it during the White House Press Briefing on Friday, Oct. 4.
She denied any FEMA money went to illegal aliens, saying it was “categorically false,” and then cited a Washington Post article that blamed it on Trump.
So, again, trust but verify the hell out of anything being said right now.
All kinds of resource pages are being shared right now. Here are the top NC-based pages for the public to reference, the first one has almost every resource one may need:
NC Department of Transportation Helene Detour information page
NC State Board of Elections; Helene impacted voter information
NC Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund Donations FAQ and donation portal
I am also keeping Helene resource links pinned to the top of my X account. I am trying to update these as I see more information, but all the big ones are there right now.
A lot of people are still missing. If you have a friend or family member you cannot locate, the key line to call inside NC is 211 or 1-888-892-1162.
The Red Cross Reunification line is collecting names of those reporting themselves safe. The number is 1-800-733-2767.
