Hurricane Helene left hundreds dead and inflicted life-changing damage for thousands more, but officials leading the recovery effort have had to fight more than just storm damage.
Falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency have spread widely online, continuing to circulate even as Hurricane Milton now bears down on Florida. Deanne Criswell, the agency’s administrator, said misinformation has harmed people affected by the storm and volunteers on the ground to help rebuild.
“It's creating distrust in the federal government, but also the state government. And we have so many first responders that have been working day and night to go out and help these communities," said Criswell, speaking with reporters Oct. 8. "It's just really demoralizing to them. It hurts their morale when they've left their families to be able to come in here and help people.”
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FEMA has shipped meals, water, generators and other supplies to the Southeast as part of the recovery effort. The federal assistance approved for people affected by the storm had, as of Oct. 8, surpassed $286 million. But those efforts were complicated by false claims that the agency doesn’t have the money to help people affected by the storm or only provides $750 in assistance. They are among the claims FEMA addresses on a new web page seeking to mitigate the damage of the most widespread falsehoods....
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