Hurricane season is on high, and while the southeast has experience handling storms like these, nothing could have prepared them for not one, but two Category 4 hurricanes (the latter of which, Milton, quickly turned to a Category 5) in such a short period of time. Helene slammed into not just Florida, but several battleground states in the region: Georgia and North Carolina. These three states faced some of the worst damage from Helene, and thankfully, Milton went back out to sea before it could dole out more.
But perhaps the storm was not the most dangerous part, maybe it was the aftermath. In the days after the storm, former President Donald Trump has been spreading misinformation about the recovery efforts and the assistance the Biden Administration is providing. His claims and allegations range from claiming the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not have the funds to provide relief efforts because it spent money on programs to help illegal immigrants in the United States, to also suggesting that the federal government was ignoring largely Republican areas on purpose. Both of the prior claims have been proven false, but still, the misinformation persists.
At a church in North Carolina, one of the states heavily affected by the storm, and one of this election cycle’s battleground states, Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Trump for spreading misinformation, saying that if the misinformation persisted, it could be dangerous to citizens who might not know who to turn to or who to trust in the aftermath in the storm. President Joe Biden surveyed the damage in Florida and not long after spoke to the media where he encouraged unity among citizens regardless of party affiliation. “We are one United States,” Biden remarked after surveying the worst of the hurricane damage. He too has critiqued the misinformation that Trump has spread, although recognizing he was not the only one, just the loudest voice.
Not only is the misinformation dangerous to those in the hurricane-affected areas, but it is also dangerous to FEMA workers trying to assist civilians. In North Carolina, a man was arrested for threatening FEMA workers. His social media pages are covered with posts ranging from anti-coronavirus vaccines to pro-Trump sentiments. With the uptick in misinformation, both FEMA and numerous other assistance agencies have reassessed and changed their tactics in providing aid, wanting to ensure that none of the workers are injured as well. But with an increase in threats, especially towards workers, it is proving that a dangerous situation could become much worse.
rrodri13@ramapo.edu
