As Florida and the Southeast recover from two major hurricanes, conspiracy theories And lies have reached levels that the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency calls unprecedented. First responders, local officials and nonprofit organizations across the storm areas had to devote time and resources to debunking the false claims.
Officials say these lies concrete consequencesin particular by preventing victims from evacuating or seeking help, distracting recovery efforts and makes the work of aid workers more difficult.
And while the scale of the disinformation that followed Helene and Milton took some by surprise, the statements themselves follow a familiar pattern. Similar misinformation has followed other hurricanes and natural disasters, including exaggerated crime reports, false or misleading visuals, and outright scams. Researchers say understanding misinformation is crucial to mitigating its spread and minimizing its impact.
Here’s a look at some of the recurring themes to watch for:
Unverified crime alerts
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helen, rumors spread online that people were slashing the tires of trucks carrying aid to storm victims, a claim that local police say is false.
Unverified crime reports have followed the storms for decades. After Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana in 2005, officials later said allegations of looting, murder and rape, repeated by some media outlets and officials, were either exaggerated or false.
At one point, the mayor of New Orleans reported several killings at the Louisiana Superdome, where thousands of people took shelter. The National Guard later said there were no homicides at the stadium.
A 2018 report from the Department of Homeland Security found that false claims often spread after disasters because verified information takes time to emerge, fueling rumors and speculation.
Conspiracies
Jennie King, director of climate disinformation research and policy at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said: conspiracies accusing the government as hurricanes have also become commonplace. Institute researchers found that this claim and others debunked by FEMA generated more than 160 million views online after Hélène.
“If it produces a visceral emotion, negative or positive, it should cause you to take a breath,” King said. “Do a little broader reading. And if you find these claims to be false or unsubstantiated, don’t give them any extra oxygen.”
False or misleading photos or videos
Altered or misleading videos and images have become commonplace during major weather events. As Hurricane Dorian approached Florida in 2019, old footage circulated online, pushing false claims of looting.
After Sandy hit New York and New Jersey in 2013, researchers identified more than 10,000 unique posts on Twitter, now called X, containing fake images.
One of those images was the now-famous “street shark” — a photoshopped image of a shark swimming along a highway — which has reappeared during several hurricanes since at least 2011.
Fact-checkers also routinely debunk images and videos of monuments and transportation hubs submerged in water, which can mislead the public during natural disasters.
A digitally altered image of planes under floodwaters, created by an artist in a bid to warn of the potential impact of climate change, has been falsely described as showing the effects of the 2017 and 2018 hurricanes.
And after Hurricane Milton hit Florida, AI-generated images appearing to show flooding at Disney World spread online across multiple platforms.
AI tools have made it easier for people to post misleading or completely fabricated visuals, according to Anupam Joshi, co-author of a study on misleading visuals after Hurricane Sandy.
“You have to take everything you see online with a very healthy grain of salt,” said Joshi, director of the University of Maryland Baltimore County Cybersecurity Institute.
Scams
Scammers often target hurricane victims and those who want to help them. After Hurricane Katrina, fraudsters posed as charities, including the Red Cross, which was one reason the U.S. Department of Justice created the National Fraud Center in disaster event.
Jun Zhuang, a researcher who studied online misinformation after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, told CBS News that scammers were soliciting money from victims through fraudulent links.
“‘Hey, if you sign up at this link you’ll get $200.’ Or the other way around: ‘Hey, please donate through this link,’ but you never know where your money is going,” Zhuang said.
Historically, bad actors also target storm victims with offers of assistance. After Hurricane Sandy, fake “contractors” claimed that FEMA would reimburse survivors for damage assessments and prompt repairs to their homes. One of these fraudsters defrauded 30 people of approximately $1.9 million.
To avoid falling victim to scams, FEMA advised people to be wary of unsolicited messages and check charities before donating.
