Lying about FEMA's response to hurricanes is destructive
Debris surrounds the Faraway Inn Cottages and Motel in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Cedar Key, Fla., on Sept. 27. Credit: AP/Stephen Smith
Hurricane Milton is menacing Florida and devastating destruction is feared. The state is preparing with widespread evacuations, still staggering from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago. On Monday, authorities called Milton a Category 5 storm, the strongest hurricane rating, with winds up to 175 mph. Severe flooding from huge water surges is expected. Individuals and government officials are being forced to make life-and-death choices.
In such a public emergency, rumors and uninformed gossip obstruct the ability to take collective action, public or private. About the last thing the affected region needs is a contagion of bad information with the potential to create division and desperation and worsen anxiety. But they’re getting it anyway — from knee-jerk extremists contriving a narrative of official failure so they can spread mindless anti-federal government ideology.
Unfortunately, former President Donald Trump has been bearing false witness in this crisis to blithely subvert the credibility of the Biden-Harris administration. Falsely, he claimed Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp couldn’t reach President Joe Biden after Helene. But Kemp said Biden did reach out to him. Kemp said he told the president: “We got what we need. We’ll work through the federal process.”
Trump also posted on social media about North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper: “I don’t like the reports that I’m getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.” Asked later what “reports” these were, Trump would not say. In fact, both Kemp and Cooper have praised the federal response.
Trump baselessly claimed that $1 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds had “gone missing.” He said Americans who lost their homes were offered $750. But the $750 payment is only the up-front aid for people to immediately access food, water, baby formula and emergency supplies. Trump even denied the obvious fact that rescue efforts were underway in North Carolina. He isn’t alone. Elon Musk, owner of ‘X’ and a part-time Trump campaigner, posted that private relief flights to North Carolina were being blocked by the Federal Aviation Administration. Not true, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and a look at publicly available flight information in and out of the area rebuts that misinformation.
Speaker Mike Johnson baselessly called FEMA’s response “a massive failure” and won’t commit to bringing the House back to approve more funding for the agency. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene fabulized on X: “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” We don’t know who “they” is. But such nonsense has contaminated social media with ridiculous claims that Hurricane Milton is a government plot. On its website, FEMA declares: “False or misleading information can harm survivors by causing confusion and preventing people from getting the help they need.”
Helene’s destruction and Milton’s frightful possibilities will shatter homes, communities, livelihoods and lives. Deliberate deception during emergency operations is a Category 5 display of irresponsibility.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
