Hurricane Helene aftermath: Officials struggle with misinformation & conspiracy

Amid the adversities created by Hurricane Helene, a new hurdle has emerged in the affected states. Regions like North Carolina and others have witnessed an increase in misinformation and conspiracy theories about the relief efforts. The false claims are spreading at an alarming rate through the hurricane-affected regions and disheartening for the working officials.
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Former president Donald Trump falsely claimed that the relied funds for hurricane-affected were being transferred to house undocumented immigrants and that the Democrats were little interested in helping the conservative residents without any evidence. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump reiterated when asked about the false claims he made. Fact-checkers and FEMA explained that the relief funds for hurricane-affected and immigrant aiding are different are separate and will proceed to their respective destinations.
FEMA had to address false claims that it is stealing donations, redirecting disaster aid to Ukraine, or turning down assistance from others—misinformation that Elon Musk has propagated.
A meeting was held in Rutherford County to discuss the extensive damage and the efforts of search and rescue teams, last Wednesday. It was attended by several from the communities adversely affected by the hurricane. However, soon conspiracy theories on social media claimed that the meeting was held to secretly discuss bulldozing, confiscating and selling the lands for either profit or to lithium mines.
The chairman of the county commission, Bryan King was present at the meeting and said, “The only lithium for sale in Rutherford County is at the local Lowes stores in a 9-volt battery.” He added that the power of these conspiracy theories “is just disheartening,” as reported by The New York Times. These theories have been particularly rampant in regions of Georgia and North Carolina which has alarmed the experts and officials.
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Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene made an ominous claim when she wrote on X, “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” The conspiracy theory followed by this post stated that the US government is capable of controlling the weather and they deliberately pushed the hurricane towards the Republican voting areas. It also stated that the hurricane was an effort to influence the upcoming elections.
Greene is known for fuelling such claims in the past earlier and echoes the same in this case where she indicated that Helene was brought upon by VP Kamala Harris to harm the republican voters.
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Adding to the litany of disinformation, the Washington Post reported on Sunday about a rumour which claimed a dam was about to burst which led to a panic evacuation of hundreds of people unnecessarily. Another included the “troubling” lie that the officials were planning to bulldoze bodies under the rubble in one of the North Carolina towns.
FEMA has not opted to debunk these rumours and any that may arise on their website as have the North Carolina authorities.