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Conspiracy theories about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season

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During the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, a number of conspiracy theories have spread about the nature of hurricanes Helene and Milton and about the post-storm disaster recovery. These rumors have caused significant difficulties for first responders and official recovery workers. The White House and Federal Emergency Management Agency have issued statements throughout the hurricane season in response to these claims.

Claims

Weather modification

See also: High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program § Conspiracy theories
Marjorie Taylor Greene @mtgreenee X logo, a stylized letter X

Yes they can control the weather.

It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.

October 3, 2024

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia's 14th congressional district insinuated in a tweet on October 3 that the government was using weather modification to influence the path and severity of hurricanes. Three days later, despite criticism from U.S. government officials, Greene continued to make posts claiming weather modification was possible and in use.

Claims that the HAARP research project has the ability to modify the weather have been popular for years. Despite claims that its transmissions were involved in Hurricane Helene, the project is extremely low-powered and does not have the ability to control weather. Likewise, the weather radar system known as NEXRAD was the subject of claims that it could be used to control weather patterns. As a radar system it emits only a small amount of energy and is not capable of influencing weather.

Proposals for weather modification to redirect hurricane paths have been found to induce feelings of anger in Florida residents. Regardless, the U.S. government retired hurricane seeding experiments in 1963 after attempts proved futile and meteorologists no longer consider it feasible.

Seizure of private property

Expenditure of relief funds on migrants

Donald Trump stated that FEMA had run out of funding for disaster recovery efforts, and that the agency had spent its budget on immigrant housing. FEMA has not redirected any disaster relief funding to migrant resettlement, and FEMA has continued to spend money towards relief efforts.

Arrests of FEMA staff

Some have claimed that FEMA staff have been arrested or executed for hindering relief work in pursuit of other conspiratorial goals. Elon Musk faced criticism for amplifying false claims that sheriffs in North Carolina had threatened to arrest FEMA staff. One viral account claimed that the United States Marine Corps were using snipers to kill FEMA employees.

Effects

Local officials and relief workers have had to expend resources combatting misinformation that might otherwise be used toward first response work. FEMA and White House officials have expressed concern that survivors and others impacted by the storms are less likely to seek relief from the agency due to the misinformation. In response, the White House directed federal agencies to engage with the public on social media with evidence the government was on the ground helping relief efforts. Congressman Chuck Edwards, whose district was heavily affected by Hurricane Helene, released a statement to his constituents rebutting many false claims.

References

  1. Greene 2024.
  2. Owen 2024: "Greene, after spending years trying to distance herself from her infamous 2018 remarks on social media blaming wildfires on 'Jewish Space Lasers,' is now using this climate emergency to double down on weather conspiracies and lasers. While Greene stopped short of blaming Jews for the hurricanes, she has promoted conspiracies that have a history of being steeped in antisemitism. 'Yes they can control the weather,' Greene wrote on X on October 3 about the hurricanes, without specifying who 'they' are. 'It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done.'"
  3. Dunbar 2024: "She appeared to double down on these comments with a post on Saturday, sharing a clip from a 2013 CBS News broadcast about experimental efforts to induce rain and lightning using lasers. 'CBS, nine years ago, talked about lasers controlling the weather,' Greene wrote, apparently mistaking the year of the broadcast."
  4. Dumé 2021: "HAARP has previously been the subject of conspiracy theories"
  5. Burns 2024: "Meanwhile, other users claimed that 'HAARP transmissions' were similarly involved."
  6. Fournier 2017: "HAARP cannot control the weather, contrary to one conspiracy theory."
  7. Burns 2024: "For example, on 30 September 2024 a video was shared on Facebook, gathering over 27,000 interactions after claiming that 'Hurricane Helene's path and behavior could have been manipulated by NEXRAD frequency transmissions'."
  8. Burns 2024: "The amount of energy sent out by NEXRAD radars is vanishingly small compared to the amount of energy expended in a hurricane. The hurricane consists solely of air and water and the beam either just passes through or is partially reflected back by small water drops. It doesn’t have enough energy to move even those tiny drops."
  9. Klima et al. 2012, p. 1203: "Third, more anger was evoked when a hurricane was described as having changed from the initially forecasted path or strength after an attempted modification"
  10. Willoughby et al. 1985, p. 513: "STORMFURY itself, however, had two fatal flaws: it was neither microphysically nor statistically feasible. Observational evidence indicates that seeding in hurricanes would be ineffective because they contain too little supercooled water and too much natural ice. Moreover, the expected results of seeding are often indistinguishable from naturally occurring intensity changes."
  11. American Meteorological Society 1998, p. 2771: "No sound physical hypotheses exist for the modification of hurricanes, tornadoes, or damaging winds in general, and no related scientific experimentation has been conducted in the past 20 years."
  12. Rodriguez & McDaniel 2024: "'Kamala has spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants,' Trump said at a rally Thursday. Harris does not disburse FEMA funding as vice president. The claim about using disaster relief funding to house immigrants is false, a Washington Post fact check found."
  13. Hennessy-Fiske et al. 2024: "During a rally Thursday in Saginaw, Mich., former president Donald Trump suggested without evidence that FEMA had used some disaster relief money to help immigrants who are in the country illegally to resettle in the United States. There is no evidence that FEMA has diverted any disaster relief funding for this purpose."
  14. Joselow et al. 2024: "FEMA also said in a news release Saturday that federal aid provided had topped $110 million so far."
  15. Pascone 2024: "Check Your Fact was unable to find any official government statement that threatened any federal employees with arrest at all."
  16. Aton & Waldman 2024: "On his social network, X, Musk also amplified rumors that authorities in North Carolina had 'taken control to stop people helping' stricken residents and accusations that sheriffs were threatening to arrest FEMA staff 'if they hinder rescue and aid work.'"
  17. Thalen 2024: "'We have spoken to a Marine sniper who reportedly now has 5 confirmed FEMA kills in North Carolina,' the account alleged. 'He has told us 'it's the fight of our lives."
  18. Godfrey 2024: "The practical effect of these falsehoods is that local officials have to spend precious time and energy combatting misinformation, rather than recovery efforts."
  19. Aton & Waldman 2024: "'The misinformation is extremely damaging to the response efforts from Helene and from any disaster,' said. 'It is reducing the likelihood that survivors will come to FEMA in a trusting way to register for assistance.'"
  20. LaBolt 2024: "In fact, disinformation after a hurricane or other natural disaster can discourage people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most.
  21. Alvarez et al. 2024: "Senior US officials have also instructed public affairs teams at federal agencies to ramp up social media posts from government accounts with photos that illustrate how federal workers are clearing debris and dispensing aid, the first US official familiar with the effort said."
  22. Edwards 2024, Doty 2024: "Edwards, whose district encompasses much of the western counties, released a statement on Oct. 8, 2024, saying there's been an uptick in 'untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos' with hoaxes."

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