As hurricanes Milton and Helene have caused back-to-back devastation across the south in the last few weeks, conspiracy theories have risen and have led to threats against meteorologists just trying to deliver weather reports.
Hurricane Milton brought powerful winds, rains and flooding to much of Florida after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through the state early Thursday. Power outages were widespread and deaths have been reported from the severe weather.
Meteorologists across the country have been working overtime to deliver accurate weather reports to those in areas affected by recent storms. However, they have noticed a frightening new trend of conspiracy theories surrounding the weather, amplified by Republican politicians like Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tweeted last week: "Yes, they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done."
The notion that the Democratic-led government is purposely causing deadly hurricanes in red-leaning swing states has spread all over social media and become a political talking point weeks before the presidential election. So much so, that president Biden was forced to shut down the conspiracy during a virtual briefing a day before Milton made landfall. "Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather, we’re controlling the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop," he said.
But the theories have already spread far and wide, Washington D.C.-based meteorologist Matthew Cappucci told Rolling Stone . “People are just so far gone, it’s honestly making me lose all faith in humanity,” he said. “There’s so much bad information floating around out there that the good information has become obscured.”
This hurricane season meteorologists say conspiracy theories have been flooding their inboxes. “I’ve been doing this for 46 years and it’s never been like this,” Alabama meteorologist James Spann said. He told Rolling Stone he’s been “inundated” with misinformation and threatening messages like “Stop lying about the government controlling the weather or else.”
"For me to post a hurricane forecast and for people to accuse me of creating the hurricane by working for some secret Illuminati entity is disappointing and distressing, and it’s resulting in a decrease in public trust,” Cappucci told the magazine.
Meteorologist Katie Nickolaou, who recently went viral after correcting a male commenter who tried to claim a category five hurricane can turn into a category six, says stopping misinformation from spreading is not becoming an exhausting part of her already stressful job. Nickolau even received a threat on Facebook that read: “Stop the breathing of those that made them and their affiliates.”
She posted a screenshot of the post on X, captioning it: “Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes,” she tweeted . “I can’t believe I just had to type that.”
The government controlling the weather is not the only conspiracy theory making the rounds, following Helene false rumors began spreading that FEMA was blockading people in Florida and preventing evacuations, and that that FEMA was redirecting disaster relief toward migrants. It got so out of control that FEMA has an entire webpage dedicated to addressing rumors surrounding hurricane relief.
President Biden addressed the "outright lies" he said was being led by former president Donald Trump. "Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated. That’s simply not true," he said. "They’re saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They’re saying the money is needed for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. What a ridiculous thing to say — it’s not true."
One of the bigger dangers of the conspiracy theories is the threat it poses to people's lives, slowing down the recovery process and fomenting mistrust. “It seems to spread with greater ease and I am particularly alarmed that after Hurricane Helene it’s really spread and truly impacted the work of the emergency management agencies that are trying to help people recover and have to dedicate resources to dispel rumors and trample down on the type of stuff that sadly, even some politicians are spreading. It costs lives and dishonors first responders and civil servants," South Florida meteorologist John Morales told Rolling Stone.
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