A Republican senator in the North Carolina legislature has issued a public plea for people to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the disaster recovery efforts in areas ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene.
In a Thursday afternoon Facebook post, state Sen. Kevin Corbin, who represents the state’s westernmost area, asked his followers for a favor: “Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in WNC.”
Corbin listed several examples: “FEMA is stealing money from donations, body bags ordered but government has denied, bodies not being buried, government is controlling the weather from Antarctica, government is trying to get lithium from WNC, stacks of bodies left at hospitals, and on and on and on.”
Since making landfall last week and churning inland, the storm has killed more than 200 people across six states, with more than 70 of those deaths in Asheville and western North Carolina.
The conspiracy theories and misinformation about the federal government’s response to the disaster have gotten so out of control that the Federal Emergency Management Agency created an entire page on its website, “Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response,” aimed at countering unverified claims circulating online.
“Misinformation always affects the people who are trying to help and the people who need the help,” Willie Nunn, a senior FEMA official currently helping to lead the disaster response in South Carolina, told HuffPost.
“It really impacts us because of the trust factor that we need,” said Nunn. “The biggest thing, if the misinformation is negative and not in support of the response, is that the survivors, it will discourage them to call us. If we don’t know where they are, we can’t meet them where they are.”
North Carolina state Rep. Lindsey Prather (D), who represents part of Buncombe County, which has been devastated by Helene, told HuffPost that misinformation has affected the recovery effort. She said she’s been working around the clock to communicate accurate information to constituents about resources like food distribution sites.
“The biggest issue is rumors and fake memes and photos of people being trapped in areas around the county, and we send folks out to rescue them, and there’s no one there to be rescued,” Prather said, noting that such efforts require resources that could be used elsewhere.
She emphasized that most of the misinformation she’s seen is not intentional; she said it’s often residents getting small windows of cell service, going on Facebook and seeing a post about people being trapped, and then sharing it widely without verifying it. People have also spread misinformation about certain parts of the county unfairly getting more resources than others, when the reality is that the disaster response is focused on getting supplies to the most highly populated and accessible areas.
“That’s impacting us, too,” said the state legislator. “We’re having to take time to respond to things like that, and explain to people how disaster response works.”
Despite the very real devastation, some right-wing influencers on social media have described an even more gruesome scenario, with a federal government that’s not just indifferent but hostile to lifesaving efforts by private citizens.
The country singer Jon Rich, for example, told his million-plus followers on X, formerly Twitter, that a friend in law enforcement reported to him they had already “used over 500 body bags, and there are bodies in trees, mud, cars, houses, everywhere,” and that the federal government had provided no support.
In fact, FEMA and state National Guard troops have deployed in the storm-torn areas to perform search-and-rescue operations, restore electricity and distribute food and water. Storm victims are also eligible to apply for cash assistance.
A lesser-known influencer claimed in a viral post on X the storm suspiciously tracked inland and “took out a dam protecting rare quartz and lithium mines and now FEMA is stealing donations, rescue teams are being denied access, drones aren’t allowed to fly over, and the $ residents get went to illegals.” (The National Weather Service correctly predicted the storm would devastate western North Carolina.)
Another viral post claimed the storm was a “land grab” by the federal government. “People are being told they no longer own their homes and have to vacate immediately,” wrote X user @theKanehB. “No more help going in by civilians or they will be arrested.”
Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) suggested in one post on Thursday that the storm’s track suspiciously aligned with voting patterns, as though it could hurt Republicans in the upcoming presidential election.
“Yes they can control the weather,” Greene wrote in a followup. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.
“Misinformation always affects the people who are trying to help.”
- Willie Nunn, FEMA's Region 10 Administrator
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, claimed Monday that government officials were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” and that the Joe Biden administration spent down FEMA funds on housing for undocumented immigrants. The White House on Friday called it a lie.
“Unfortunately, our country has seen the dangerous consequences of peddling falsehoods,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in an email to reporters. “In fact, disinformation of this kind can discourage people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most. It is paramount that every leader, whatever their political beliefs, stops spreading this poison.”
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety had to create its own version of a Hurricane Helene rumor response page, too.
“The need for reliable, factual information is crucial to aiding in the ongoing lifesaving and humanitarian efforts in Western NC,” North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray said in a statement. “I encourage all North Carolinians to seek information from trusted sources and to verify information that you see online, verify where it is coming from and avoid sharing unproven information.”
State Sen. Corbin said in his Facebook post that FEMA was on the scene, as were National Guard soldiers and power company workers. And he suggested that conspiracy theories have been harmful since they have taken up lawmakers’ time as they try to coordinate relief.
“Please don’t let these crazy stories consume you or have you continually contact your elected officials to see if they are true,” Corbin wrote, adding that one of his senate colleagues had received 15 calls on Thursday asking him to stop a variety of nefarious plots. “I’m growing a bit weary of intentional distractions from the main job …. which is to help our citizens in need.”