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Conspiracy theories about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season

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As of October 3rd, the ongoing 2024 Atlantic hurricane season began experiencing an above average surge in activity driven by the La Niña effect and higher-than-average ocean temperatures. So far there have been five hurricanes impacting the southeastern United States, leading to heightened attention by the media and on social media.

Devastation in Asheville after Hurricane Helene.

During this late-season surge, a number of conspiracy theories began spreading about the nature of hurricanes Helene and Milton and about the post-storm disaster recovery. These widespread rumors have caused significant difficulties for first responders and official recovery workers, hampering rescue efforts and subjecting officials to threats of violence. 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

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.

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

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.

Land acquisition

One common belief is that the U.S. government is using the disaster to seize land, in particular destroyed homes. Following Hurricane Helene, rumors spread that Chimney Rock, North Carolina, had been intentionally abandoned so that the federal government could mine lithium after evacuating the residents or even leaving the residents for dead. County officials denied any plans of the sort. Similar rumors spread in the days leading to Hurricane Milton's landfall in Florida, leading to the governor's office to rebut claims of FEMA seizing Floridians' homes.

AI-generated images

AI-generated image of Donald Trump assisting in disaster relief, shared online in September 2024

Social media featured many viral AI-generated images supposedly depicting the hurricane and its response. One image of a flooded town was claimed to be Gatlinburg, Tennessee, prompting a response from town officials that the town was not flooded and safe to visit.

After Hurricane Helene, an AI-generated image of a girl holding a puppy while sitting in a boat floating on flooded waters circulated among Republicans, who used it as evidence of failures of the Biden administration to respond to the disaster. Another image depicted Donald Trump wading through floodwaters to rescue people, despite Trump not performing any hands-on relief work.

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. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan similarly claimed that disaster funds had gone to house migrants. Elon Musk amplified the claim, indicating that he viewed FEMA's actions as "treason" and endorsing a call for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to be arrested. FEMA has not redirected any disaster relief funding to migrant resettlement, and FEMA has continued to spend money towards relief efforts.

Violence against 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. Real Raw News falsely claimed that the United States Marine Corps were using snipers to kill FEMA employees. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FEMA director of public affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg, and Asheville mayor Esther Manheimer received antisemitic attacks online and as a result have feared for their safety in response work. FEMA has received credible threats directed at its staff, including calls for militias to shoot emergency responders.

Effects

(From left to right) Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, FEMA director Deanne Criswell, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and President Joe Biden speak during an aerial tour to survey damage caused by Hurricane Helene aboard Marine One on October 2, 2024

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. FEMA added a page on its website to rebut viral falsehoods. Congressman Chuck Edwards, whose district was heavily affected by Hurricane Helene, released a statement to his constituents rebutting many false claims. Particular criticism was given to Twitter under Elon Musk, where recent changes to content moderation had made it more difficult to discern reliable sources.

See also

References

  1. Corp, Pelmorex (October 3, 2024). "2024 Atlantic hurricane season is officially above average with 12th named storm". The Weather Network.
  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. Greene 2024.
  5. Dumé 2021: "HAARP has previously been the subject of conspiracy theories"
  6. Burns 2024: "Meanwhile, other users claimed that 'HAARP transmissions' were similarly involved."
  7. Fournier 2017: "HAARP cannot control the weather, contrary to one conspiracy theory."
  8. 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'."
  9. 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."
  10. 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"
  11. 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."
  12. 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."
  13. Kayyem 2024b: "One very harmful lie that is being spread is that the government — this is the opportunity for the government to take your house."
  14. Brady & Baker 2024: "Perhaps no area in North Carolina has been the subject of more blatant false online rumors than Chimney Rock — including the persistent untrue claim that FEMA abandoned the village so that the Biden administration can mine lithium there."
  15. Kelly 2024: "Others … suggest officials are deliberately abandoning bodies in the cleanup."
  16. Ferris 2024: "Rutherford County Emergency Management said claims of a government seizure of Chimney Rock 'are entirely false,' adding that no 'special meeting' was held to discuss seizing the town. Rutherford County Emergency Management clarified that North Carolina lawmakers met with local officials to request federal and state support."
  17. Jingnan 2024: "As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, Christina Pushaw, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary, took to social media to rebuke one viral falsehood that urged people not to evacuate so as to protect their property from FEMA: 'Spreading LIES like this could have serious consequences.' She urged people to follow directions to evacuate."
  18. Kiehl 2024: "The reality is that the City of Gatlinburg is inviting tourists back to the area. "We are welcoming anyone who can safely travel here," the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau said on X."
  19. Kayyem 2024a: "To illustrate claims that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had abandoned Helene's victims, right-wing influencers shared an AI-generated image of a weeping child holding a wet puppy. Another fake viral image showed Donald Trump wading through floodwaters."
  20. Hudnall 2024: "There are no credible reports of the former president wading through flood waters while visiting Georgia. Pictures captured during his trip show him wearing a black suit with a red tie, not the blue long-sleeve shirt shown in the viral image."
  21. 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."
  22. Strickler, Alexander & Guilfoil 2024: "Some, like Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, falsely claimed on X that FEMA had used disaster funds to house migrants and that the government had 'abandoned' hard hit areas. X owner Elon Musk, among Trump's most vocal backers, reposted Jordan's false claim and a variety of others about FEMA."
  23. Joselow et al. 2024: "He labeled FEMA's actions 'treason' and sent a reply indicating agreement with a post from another user who said Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas 'should be jailed for life for spending FEMA money on illegal aliens and not Americans.'"
  24. 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."
  25. Joselow et al. 2024: "FEMA also said in a news release Saturday that federal aid provided had topped $110 million so far."
  26. Criswell 2024: "We absolutely have the funding that we need to support the ongoing response to Helene and the response that we're preparing for Hurricane Milton. There has been no money diverted from the disaster relief fund to go support any other requirements across the federal government."
  27. Pascone 2024: "Check Your Fact was unable to find any official government statement that threatened any federal employees with arrest at all."
  28. 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.'"
  29. 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.''"
  30. Medina 2024: "The antisemitic attacks have been lobbed mainly at the mayor of Asheville, Esther Manheimer, as well as at the secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director of public affairs, Jaclyn Rothenberg."
  31. Oremus & Joselow 2024: "Manheimer, who surveyed the damage from Helene during a flight on Marine One with Biden last week, said she worries about her safety and that of other Jewish officials in the hard-hit region."
  32. Institute for Strategic Dialogue 2024: "Falsehoods around hurricane response have spawned credible threats and incitement to violence directed at the federal government – this includes calls to send militias to face down FEMA for the perceived denial of aid, or to shoot and/or harm FEMA officials and the agency’s emergency responders."
  33. 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."
  34. 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.'"
  35. LaBolt 2024: "In fact, disinformation after a hurricane or other natural disaster can discourage people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most.
  36. 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."
  37. Raby & Angueira 2024: "FEMA has dedicated part of its website to providing accurate answers to questions and addressing rumors on its response to Helene." (see FEMA 2024)
  38. 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."
  39. Kayyem 2024a: "But under its current owner, Elon Musk, the platform, renamed X, has changed its algorithms, account-verification system, and content-moderation approach in ways that make the platform less reliable in a crisis."

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