# Misinformation about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season

Late in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, misinformation and conspiracy theories spread about the nature of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and about the post-storm disaster recoveries. False information was spread by multiple American right-wing politicians including Donald Trump, who was the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. These widespread rumors caused difficulties for first responders and official recovery workers, hampering rescue efforts, and some officials were subject to threats of violence. The White House and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued statements in response to these claims.

## Background

In early 2024, hurricane forecasters predicted a highly-active season, citing the La Niña effect and warm sea surface temperatures. After the earliest-forming Category 5 hurricane on record, Hurricane Beryl, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintained this prediction through August. In what was expected to be the peak season, however, there were few storms, and some called the season a "bust".
In late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton developed as Category 4 and 5 hurricanes, respectively, breaking the lull. Helene caused extensive damage across the Southeastern United States, becoming the deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina. In particular, the hurricane caused flooding in western North Carolina, hundreds of miles from the coast; NOAA described this unusually high inland rainfall as a "worst-case scenario" for the region. Milton broke the National Weather Service's record for rapid intensification, strengthening to a Category 5 and increasing its wind speeds by 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) in 24 hours. The season became the second costliest in history, with $190 billion in damages, and broke records for amount of storm activity in the later period of a hurricane season.

## Claims
### Weather modification

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia's 14th congressional district claimed in a tweet on October 3 that it is possible to use weather modification to influence hurricanes. Three days later, Greene made another post claiming weather modification was possible and in use. Prominent right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made claims that Hurricanes Milton and Helene were "weather weapons" created by the US government. Meteorologists Matthew Cappucci, Katie Nickolaou, and James Spann claimed to have received threats, accusing them of concealing that the US government was controlling the hurricane.
   * Marjorie Taylor Greene @mtgreenee
   Yes they can control the weather.
   It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.
Claims that the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) research project in Alaska can modify the weather have existed since at least 2012. Agence France-Presse reported on popular social media posts claiming that the device created the storm; however, a research scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which runs the project, stated that is too low-powered to control weather. Likewise, the nationwide weather radar system known as Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) was the subject of claims that it could be used to control weather patterns. As a radar system it emits only a small amount of energy, which NOAA's Hurricane Research Division states is too low to influence weather.
In research prior to the 2024 season, researchers have considered the social and ethical impacts of hurricane modification. In 2012, a survey found that proposals for weather modification to redirect hurricane paths induced feelings of anger in Florida residents. The US government retired hurricane seeding experiments in 1983 after attempts proved futile and in 1998 the American Meteorological Society adopted an official position considering it unfeasible.

### FEMA blocking aid

USA Today reported on viral social media posts claiming that law enforcement in North Carolina were seeking to arrest Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff for allegedly hindering relief work, a claim denied by state officials. Elon Musk faced criticism from The Atlantic, NPR, and Politico for amplifying claims without evidence that FEMA had been expropriating aid shipments, blocking private citizens from rendering aid, and that sheriffs in North Carolina had threatened to arrest FEMA staff. The Twitter account for fake news website Real Raw News falsely claimed that the United States Marine Corps were using snipers to kill FEMA employees. US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, FEMA Director of Public Affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg, and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer received antisemitic attacks online and claimed to have feared for their safety in response work. FEMA received credible threats of violence directed at its staff, including calls for militias to shoot emergency responders. One armed man acting alone was arrested in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on October 14, 2024 for making threats against FEMA employees; as a result, aid workers relocated their work from the county.
On November 9, 2024, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell released an official statement announcing that a FEMA employee had "advise[d] her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump". Criswell referred to the act as "reprehensible". The alleged discrimination occurred in Florida, and the employee was fired for these alleged actions. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a federal lawsuit against FEMA in response to the allegation of discrimination.

### Land acquisition

PBS News Hour reported on a belief that the US government was using the disaster to seize land, in particular destroyed homes. Following Hurricane Helene, rumors spread online that Chimney Rock, North Carolina, had been intentionally abandoned by relief officials so that the federal government could mine lithium after evacuating the residents or after leaving the residents for dead. County officials denied any plans of the sort. In Florida, WUSF reported similar rumors that spread in the days leading up to Hurricane Milton's landfall, which caused the governor's office to rebut claims of FEMA seizing Floridians' homes.

### Expenditure of relief funds on migrants

On October 3, Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of spending FEMA disaster relief funds on housing for "illegal migrants", and he claimed that the agency had run out of funding for disaster recovery efforts. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan similarly claimed that disaster funds had gone to house migrants. Elon Musk amplified the claim on Twitter, indicating that he viewed FEMA's alleged expenditures on migrants as "treason" and endorsing a call for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to be arrested. The Washington Post found no evidence that FEMA had redirected any disaster relief funding to migrant resettlement, and the agency stated that it had continued to spend money towards relief efforts.

### AI-generated images

On social media, multiple viral AI-generated images spread supposedly depicting the hurricane and its response. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported on one image of a flooded town that was claimed to be Gatlinburg, Tennessee, prompting a response from town officials that the town was not flooded and safe to visit.
After Helene, an AI-generated image of a girl holding a puppy while sitting in a boat floating on flooded waters circulated among Republicans, who used it as evidence of alleged failures of the Biden administration to respond to the disaster. The Atlantic noted that some politicians did not retract the image after learning it was fake, "insisting that it's real on some deeper level". Another image cited by USA Today depicted Donald Trump wading through floodwaters to rescue people, despite Trump wearing different clothing during his visit to the area. Following Milton's track across Florida, AI-generated images depicting flooding in Walt Disney World posted to Telegram by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti were republished by Russian news networks. AI- and computer-generated images supposedly documenting the October 9 tornado outbreak were widely shared, including by British tabloid The Mirror. Reuters quoted an anonymous US intelligence official who claimed Russian and Chinese influence operations spread AI-generated misinformation related to the hurricanes.

## Effects

Multiple commentators alleged that Republican Party politicians' promotion of these claims was intended to gain an advantage in the 2024 United States presidential election. Jim Puzzanghera in The Boston Globe claimed that the party was "seeking [an] edge" in hurricane-battered Georgia because it is a swing state, "exploiting the trauma" by using claims about the Biden administration's response efforts to reduce support for the Kamala Harris's campaign. The Guardian misinformation reporter Rachel Leingang argued that misinformation was likely so prevalent due to the proximity to the election, quoting a fellow at the American Immigration Council who claimed that "there's no question that this level of falsehoods would not be spread were there not an election a month away".
Local officials and relief workers have had to expend resources combatting misinformation that might otherwise have been used toward first response work. FEMA and White House officials have expressed concern that survivors and others impacted by the storms may be less likely to seek relief from the agency due to the misinformation. In response, the White House directed federal agencies to engage with the public on social media with evidence the government was on the ground helping relief efforts. FEMA added a page on its website to rebut claims. Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, who represents North Carolina's 11th congressional district which was heavily affected by Hurricane Helene, released a statement to his constituents rebutting several claims. Writing in The Atlantic, former US Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem gave particular criticism to Twitter under Elon Musk, where she argued recent changes to content moderation had made it more difficult to discern reliable sources.