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‘Truly dangerous narrative’: Lies about NC’s Helene response cause a second wave of harm

By Michael McElroy

October 8, 2024

Separating fact and fiction amid the false claims and outright lies about North Carolina’s response to the storm. 

Hurricane Helene was a monstrosity of rain, wind, and other forces of nature. The crisis of lies that came after was entirely man-made.

As state and federal first responders pulled survivors from rooftops and rushing waterways; worked to repair washed out roads in still-falling rain; established emergency supply lines, and bore first witness to the dead, Donald Trump, Mark Robinson, and an intensifying online disinformation campaign claimed that these responders either did not exist, or were charlatans, enemies of the state.

Trump also falsely claimed that Gov. Roy Cooper, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris were intentionally denying aid to Republican areas in the state. 

Mark Robinson claimed that only he and some private groups were the ones responding, and that Cooper and the rest of the state apparatus was missing in action.

Trump said Democrats had stolen money from FEMA and given it to non-citizens in a scheme to steal the election. 

Many online posts later amplified by Trump falsely claimed that federal officials had given millions to Ukraine but would give only $750 to Helene victims.

All of these are demonstrably false. That doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

The long list of disinformation mixed absurdities with grains of truth, flooding the flow of needed information with bad faith distractions. The lies, especially when amplified from high-profile figures, spread suspicion and hesitancy in urgent circumstances, causing the people who need help to doubt those who were there to help them.

FEMA, the state department of public safety, and several aid agencies have tried to push back against the like with fact checking websites, but online truth often runs far behind the lies.

‘Turn that garbage off’

While the false claims are coming mostly from far right circles, even some Republican officials, including US Sen. Thom Tillis and NC Sen. Kevin Corbin, who represents several of the counties affected, refuted them.

“Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet,” Corbin wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. “It is just a distraction to people trying to do their job.” 

At a news conference in North Carolina this week, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said that the lies had created a “truly dangerous narrative.”

If people distrust federal officials, Criswell said, they may not apply for the aid that would make a huge difference. After all, would you apply for FEMA aid if you believed it was all a con to steal your money?

“This level of misinformation creates this scenario where they won’t even come to us,” Criswell said at a separate event last week. “They won’t even register, and I need people to register so they can get what they’re eligible for through our programs.”

Biden has told Criswell to stay in the state until the work is done. The disinformation makes that work much harder.

Haywood Co. Sheriff Bill Wilke and County Commission Chair Kevin Ensleys, both Republicans, said at the same press conference that the conspiracies and lies were affecting the recovery effort.

“Turn that garbage off. I have very little patience for it,” Wilke said. “You’re harming the morale and efforts of people who are out there putting themselves in harm’s way to help others.”

He added: “Get off Facebook, and get out there and put on a pair of boots and pair of gloves and get to work.”

Here is a quick look at the facts and fiction behind some of the most prevalent lies about Hurricane Helene in the state. 

Federal v. private response

The Truth: Gov. Cooper declared a state of emergency on Wednesday before the storm hit and issued a separate disaster declaration before it was over, setting the stage for an “unprecedented” state and federal response on the ground that now includes thousands of national guard, FEMA, state, local, and other federal personnel. Cooper has also held nearly daily news conferences on the recovery efforts and visited many of the hardest hit areas. 

The Lie: Private companies are leading the rescue and recovery efforts and state and federal officials have left these towns to rot.

The Context: Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor who trails his opponent Josh Stein in recent polls by double digits, posted several times on X over the last week saying that Cooper and Biden ”failed to act.”

Robinson, whose support began to plummet after recent news coverage tied him to graphic posts left a decade ago on a porn site messaging board, also posted pictures of himself hugging survivors and handing boxes of supplies to others. 

“When Hurricane Helene was on its way to North Carolina, Gov. Cooper was too busy hob-knobing with rich folks in New York to care about preparing for the storm,” Robinson wrote on X.

“Now Democrats like Cooper, Josh Stein & Joe Biden want to hide behind bureaucratic resolutions that pass automatically – instead of getting out there and working to help people in dire need. I won’t stand for this. While they are playing politics, my team and I remain committed to doing all we can to help our neighbors in the wake of this devastating storm.”

Cooper on Friday traveled to New York to attend a New York Times conference on the effects of climate change, a big driver of Helene’s strength, but by then, he’d already issued the disaster declaration.

He held several press conferences, including on Thursday and Friday mornings.

On Friday he warned that Helene was “one of the worst storms in modern history for Western North Carolina,” and told residents there not to travel unless they were moving to higher ground.

“Heavy rains and winds are coming,” he said. “We are preparing for unexpected conditions.”

Cooper repeatedly warned of all the mudslides, flash floods, damaged infrastructure, and washed out roads that would soon take place 

“Even areas that don’t typically experience it may see flooding,” he said, mentioning Asheville’s risks even though it was not in the storm’s direct path.

Because of the state of emergency and disaster declarations that Cooper signed and Biden approved, Cooper had already deployed emergency management teams by Thursday, including members of the national guard, swift water rescue teams, and urban search and rescue teams.

State officials also moved supplies and heavy equipment across the roads that would soon be washed away so that they would be in place where and when needed. 

As for Robinson’s Friday night, he suffered second degree burns during a campaign stop at a Truck Show after putting his hand on the hot exhaust pipe of the big rig he’d just been riding in.

Robinson was also the only member of the council of state to miss the vote on the disaster declaration, which, despite his assertions, are not automatic or automated.

A governor has to issue the declaration, the president has to agree to it, and the whole process has to happen fast so that the aid can actually be used when needed. 

When Trump was president, he delayed or denied some disaster declarations for political reasons. 

Also, most of Robinson’s “team” resigned soon after the porn site news broke.

FEMA funding

The Truth: US officials have said that FEMA will run out of funding before the end of hurricane season, but it has the money it needs for immediate Helene recovery and aid. Congress recently added more disaster funding that the agency can use.

The Lie: Trump, along with Elon Musk and others online, have said that FEMA spent all of its disaster money on immigration services to bribe non citizens to vote for Democrats illegally.

The Context: The money spent on hurricanes, wildfires, and other disaster relief does not come from FEMA’s main budget. It comes from a separate fund, provided by Congress, called the Disaster Relief Fund.

FEMA does need additional funding to get through the season and help with the long-term recovery in North Carolina, but the shortfalls have nothing to do with theft or illegal plots.

The money spent on the immigration services  were Customs and Border grants FEMA helped distribute to cities and local governments to help them manage the influx of immigrants in recent years.

No funds were diverted from disaster sources. 

Also, it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote. It is super rare for a noncitizen to even register to vote much less actually cast a ballot. A board of elections search in NC recently found 9 noncitizens on the state’s voting rolls out of 7,704,452 registered voters..

And Congress controls FEMA’s funding. Republicans control the House and could provide more disaster money if they wanted to. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, has refused to commit to calling Congress back into session before the election.

Financial support for victims

The Truth: FEMA has several sources of aid it offers in an emergency, including money for small businesses, money for home repairs, money for lodging, etc. They come in separate applications, and people needing aid have to fill out some forms and answer questions. One of those funding sources is a $750 allotment for immediate needs like food, diapers, and wipes — things that are needed right now.

The Lie: That $750 is ALL that a Helene victim can get, even as the government provides millions in aid to Ukraine.

The Context: Applying for the $750 does not at all preclude you from applying for the other aid. This specific aid is meant for a specific need. 

It’s called Serious Needs Assistance, and is intended, FEMA says, as an “upfront,  flexible payment to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies.”

Funding for home repairs, temporary housing, and property damage is available through separate sources. 

To say this is the only assistance is like looking only at the breakfast menu and accusing McDonalds of not surviving lunch or dinner.

Volunteers and supplies in western NC

The Truth: Many of the roads in western North Carolina are still destroyed or otherwise unpassable, creating a logistical snarl for emergency management officials. And there are so many state, federal and volunteer aircraft in the skies above those roads that things can get dangerous. So the FAA and other agencies have put systems in place to manage the chaos. 

The Lie: The FAA is restricting airspace in the affected areas to delay or prevent aid from getting where it needs to be. FEMA is turning away volunteers and supplies. 

The Context: This one is a good example of disinformation actors can turn complexity into nonsense. If a FEMA official tells a supply-laden truck it has to turn around because the one road in or out is gone, that’s not turning away the aid, it’s preventing it from falling into a gorge. 

And if the FAA is coordinating flight plans, it’s not restricting airspace, it’s trying to prevent midair collisions. 

The FAA does not prevent your Delta flight to Dallas from taking off when it tells it which runway it’s clear to use. 

Controlling the weather

The Truth: No one can control the weather.

The Lie: Democrats can control the weather, created Helene, and used it to attack Republican areas.

The Context: Most of the disinformation tied to Helene is serious, not funny. This one, most notably amplified by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, is absurd. 

“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” Greene posted to X last Thursday.

Greene has stuck to her guns on this claim, but it is as untrue now as it has ever been.

@cardinalandpine

The disinformation about Hurricane Helene coming from Donald Trump and some far-right circles is easily debunked. That doesn’t make it any less dangerous. It can cause real confusion and hesitancy among the people who need the help and assistance that Trump and others are lying about. And Trump is not the only far-right Republican spreading the lies. Mark Robinson, Dan Bishop, and even Elon Musk are among the biggest spreaders of disinformation about state and federal response to the hurricane. Political Correspondent Michael McElroy, with a little help from Cobra Commander, separates fact from fiction. Take a look. #northcarolina #hurricanehelene #asheville #wnc #westernnc #fema

♬ original sound – Cardinal & Pine

‘Why hasn’t he called in the National Guard?!’

While Trump, Robinson, and Elon Musk are the biggest drivers of these lies online, a little known Twitter user is a good example of the real dangers of a disinformation campaign. 

Gov. Cooper activated the national guard before the storm hit and has held a press conference nearly every day since, updating North Carolinians about the recovery process.

But a user called Cindy on the Bay posted a meme on X on Oct. 3 in response to one of Robinson’s false claims. 

“Has this guy even held a press conference yet?!,” she wrote. “Why hasn’t he called in the National Guard?!”

He had, Cindy on the Bay.

It would have taken only a moment to check, of course, but disinformation thrives on people sharing things without checking. 

It thrives on users like Cindy on the Bay.

While disinformation is intentional, misinformation can just be simply incorrect and is often spread in good faith.

The key to stopping both from spreading is to stick to reliable sources and check a rumor before sharing it. 

Spreading misinformation, even in good faith, can end up hurting the people you are genuinely concerned about. 

Author

  • Michael McElroy

    Michael McElroy is Cardinal & Pine's political correspondent. He is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a former editor at The New York Times.

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