Increased hurricane misinformation reveals new side of climate fight » Yale Climate Connection

Hurricane Helene dumped more than 20 inches of rain on towns in western North Carolina, prompting emergency response efforts. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, requested a major disaster declaration, which was quickly approved by President Joe Biden, expediting federal funding and aid. Search and rescue teams conducted air and water rescues. Line crews rushed in to get power back up and running. Community aid organizations began collecting and distributing supplies.

Online, false rumors began to spread about the response.

These rumors range from scary conspiracy theories to more banal but still dangerous disinformation about the availability of FEMA aid. (Editor's note: We'll avoid spreading conspiracy theories here and encourage you to do the same.)

Error messages are not uncommon after a disaster. But as climate change brings more weather disasters to communities across the United States, will the rampant spread of misinformation undermine disaster response and prevent survivors from getting the support they need?

To answer this question and more, we spoke with Samantha Montano, assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime College. Montano has been pushing back against the misinformation X Following Helen, she is a champion of emergency management reform. She is also the author of Catastrophology: Communications from the Front Lines of Climate Change.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Yale Climate Link: Have you noticed a change in misinformation about disaster response and recovery after Hurricane Helene?

Montano: I would say the change does correlate with the amount of misinformation. Often, we find that people are confused about how to get FEMA assistance, what they qualify for, and what they agree to when receiving FEMA assistance. So this confusion is normal, but it's not at the same level, and I think maybe the intent behind some of the misinformation spread is more political than in previous disasters.

Yale Climate Link: What are the most common false rumors you’re reading?

Montano: A very common scenario is that FEMA can seize your house if you agree to accept the $750 that FEMA offers (which is just the first wave of funding to meet your current needs). That's not true, but it could have some very significant consequences. If you see this happening everywhere and you really need that $750, you might hesitate and say, “Well, I'm not going to buy it. I don't want to give up my house. Or even if you hear about the Federal Emergency Management The bureau is coming and taking people's homes, which probably means you're going to stay in your house even though it's not habitable, right? And it's already covered in mold, which is really dangerous.

There's also a lot of misinformation out there about FEMA's budget and what the money is spent on.

There's also pressure that FEMA is blocking supplies from coming in, but that's not the case. When disasters occur, we provide what are called concentrated assistance to affected communities, many of which take the form of donations of various supplies. Sometimes these supplies are really helpful and useful, and sometimes they don't actually meet the needs of the community, or they overwhelm the community. It's hard to trace the roots of this, but I think one of the things that happens there is probably people showing up with a car full of in-kind donations and being told by someone, whether they work for FEMA or not, “We don't No more donations needed, but thank you. This is kind of twisted into “FEMA is blocking the roads.”

Yale Climate Link: With so much misinformation being spread, what does this mean for recovery efforts?

Montano: Once information leaks out, it is difficult to correct. This is what happened to Helen. I'm really worried about how this misinformation will now spread into Milton's response.

My concern is the damage to the relationship between FEMA and survivors. This $750 is just the first wave of funding. People may also qualify for more money (up to $42,500) to help with home repairs. I'm worried that if they think, you know, we shouldn't accept the $750, now they're going to say, we shouldn't accept the $40,000. This is part of what FEMA will have to continually address throughout the recovery process. Hopefully local news will continue to help people separate fact from fiction.

Yale Climate Link: What reforms could be made to aid the response and perhaps help build some trust between disaster survivors and emergency management?

Montano: I talk a lot about the need for comprehensive emergency management reform. When I say that, what I mean is that we need to change our entire system at the federal level, at the state level, at the local level, and in all phases of emergency management from mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

There are literally countless things we can do to make emergency management more effective, efficient and equitable. Some major changes include removing FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), making it an independent Cabinet-level agency, as it was before 9/11. This just makes it easier for FEMA to communicate. This would remove FEMA from the ongoing immigration fight, in which they are embroiled in part because they are part of the Department of Homeland Security. So it helps protect FEMA in a number of ways and makes them more nimble, giving them more authority and authority to deal with the complexities of the federal response.

At the state and local level, the same goes for FEMA, but especially at the local level, we really need to see increased funding for local emergency management agencies. Many of our agencies across the country only have one part-time emergency manager, which in the context of the climate crisis is ridiculous. Every locality needs at least one full-time emergency manager, but it may be more than that, and we need to see local governments make real investments and prepare their communities in advance. This involves funding emergency management agencies to prepare in advance.

As for other reforms, I mentioned the complexity of restoring the system. FEMA has made some changes over the past year that hopefully will help, but we still haven't made enough. People are going through the process of applying for aid, being turned down, having to appeal, being turned down again, having to appeal again. No one has time to do that, which puts a strain on FEMA's resources as people try to do that while they're displaced. So there's a lot of red tape within FEMA that needs to be eliminated. Some of these issues fall within the authority of FEMA to address on its own, but if you're considering some of the bigger changes, like increasing the total amount of funding someone can receive from FEMA, this is It needs to come from Congress.

When we talk about reform, it's actually very complex because we need reform at the federal level, some coming from Congress and some coming from within FEMA. You need the state legislature to change, you need the local mayors and city councils to change. All over the country. So, frankly, this is a huge undertaking that we barely talk about, let alone actually act on.

read: Deny FEMA aid? You can appeal

Yale Climate Link: As you look ahead and we're going to experience more extreme weather disasters, why is it important to address misinformation, why is it important to rebuild trust?

Montano: Trust is just one of the fundamental tools emergency managers need to be able to do their jobs effectively. Everything about emergency management involves communication, coordination and collaboration, all of which require trust. Building trust is hard. This needs to be done long before disaster strikes. When you fight this kind of misinformation, conspiracy theories, these relationships can be damaged in a matter of minutes.

This is one of the biggest challenges for emergency management moving forward. When we do encounter a situation where trust is broken, how do we repair it? I don't know if we in emergency management really have the answer to that question. For example, trust between FEMA and the public collapsed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the 19 years since, FEMA has been trying to regain that trust. However, as we saw with Helen, a lot of people used Katrina as an example of, “Look, they failed us during Katrina, and now they're failing you.” Again, Two very different situations, right? Nineteen years later, FEMA has proven itself time and time again to be a different agency, but it's not perfect, I don't want anyone to think so, but they do do a great job. So you can see the duration of this effect when trust is lost.

Yale Climate Link: Is there anything else you think people should know or consider right now?

Montano: After a disaster, it's great that everyone wants to help. I think one of the ways you can really help here is to be extra careful about the information you share. Learn Ahead: Who is your trustworthy person to turn to in a disaster? Which meteorologists do you really trust? Which journalists do you really trust? What publication? I think knowing this ahead of time is something we all need to be more intentional about.

I do think one way people can help is by pointing out error messages when they see them. Look, I don't want to get anyone into a Twitter war or anything. But I do think it's important to speak out and call out misinformation because a lot of people are spreading it intentionally or unintentionally, and I think a lot of people are just sharing it because they don't realize it's misinformation.

Yale Climate Link: After Helen, AI-generated images proliferated.

Montano: It's one of those things where, for example, we always have false images spread during disasters. I don’t know if you are familiar with the hurricane shark. I call her Clara Sharkton. Photos of sharks are everywhere. (Editor’s note: The shark is fake.) So there are always false images. But these are pretty wild images generated by artificial intelligence. This is a signal of where we are heading. Some time ago, an artificial intelligence video was circulated, which showed the explosion of the Capitol Building. They quickly discovered it online and eliminated it. But if you just glance at it, I mean, it looks real enough. From an emergency management perspective, this kind of thing is very scary. You've seen how difficult it is to dispel myths about $750, let alone dispel myths about whether disaster occurs. I do think that as bad as the misinformation was during the Helen period, and I'm sure it will be during the Milton period as well, we're just getting started. If we don't take immediate action to try to make some kind of structural change to prevent this from happening, the situation could be much worse.