On October 9, 2024, Hurricane Milton landed on Siesta Key, a coastal community on the western side of Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane. This occurred only two weeks after Hurricane Helene had caused the state severe damage. So far, it has been reported that at least 24 people have died as a result of Hurricane Milton. Death counts have fluctuated as responders get to harder-to-reach areas. Death reports are normally carried out by local agencies.
In response, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved $142 million in housing and aid and an additional $606 million for debris removal.
During the hurricane response, misleading information was spread, including but not limited to rumors stating that FEMA did not have funds, FEMA was blockading people in Florida to prevent evacuations, and FEMA was blocking residents and companies form removing debris in areas hit by the hurricane. These have all been proven to be false as FEMA has addressed each statement.
CNN Washington reported that former President Trump was spreading misinformation through social media, at campaign rallies in Michigan, and during his visit to Georgia. He claimed that Harris spent “all her FEMA money” on “illegal migrants,” alleging that FEMA stole funds to instead run an illegal program to get undocumented migrants across the border to vote. In addition, he politicized the Hurricane response by stating that President Biden and VP Harris had negative reviews for their handling of the hurricane emergency response. These were proven to be incorrect, but the spread of misinformation, especially the FEMA funds being used for other purposes, garnered much attention on social media.
At a town hall in Las Vegas, Harris responded to a media question about federal officials not being able to respond to the hurricane, to which Harris stressed that the issue should not be politicized. Irrespective of political affiliation, I could not agree more that the issue of hurricane response should not be so politicized in such a short time. In the same way that public health responses became political, the federal response to Hurricane Milton quickly became polarized with a wave of misinformation spreading both in-person and through social media.
In response, FEMA created the Hurricane Rumor Response with FAQ’s debunking misinformation about FEMA’s response. In my opinion, from my perspective as a former Media Advisor in a, albeit small, government office, having to spend resources and time on developing these public communications in response to rumors is taking away from hours that could be spent communicating necessary information more widely, and spreading messages to remote areas. FEMA Administrator Criswell noted that she had never seen misinformation be such an issue, referring to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
In the executive office, President Biden urged individuals in Florida to evacuate, and was in touch with more than 60 local officials in communities that were most likely to be impacted. Most notably, the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency for Florida, resulting in 100 first responders, medical equipment, and supplies waiting in Atlanta (“pre-positioned”) and ready to provide health care services.
Post-hurricane, I recently spent a weekend at my former home in Florida checking in on a close family member who was lucky enough to be on the outskirts of Hurricane Milton. Anecdotally, and arguably subjectively, it seems that there are still strong feelings as to whether the response was sufficient, and the questions of FEMA funds, even though those have been debunked. I agree with FEMA Administrator Criswell that misinformation fosters a “corrosive environment” lacking altruism and promoting competition amongst each other instead of fostering community. Hopefully, we can learn from this that widespread destruction requires us to come together and seek correct information to best inform ourselves and our communities.
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