Some things in this world that are inevitable: death, sunrise, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) responding to tragedies with pure insanity.
Eric Church's New Song 'Darkest Hour' Will Blow Your Damn Mind
At least 215 people have been killed by Hurricane Helene , a Category 4 storm that tore through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia last weekend. Thousands remain without power and access to critical necessities as the federal government works to provide relief in the aftermath of the deadliest storm in the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina. But in the wastelands of social media, some are attempting to use the tragedy as fodder for political conspiracy theories.
“Yes they can control the weather,” Greene wrote on X Thursday night. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
It’s unclear who the “they” are that Greene is referring to in this scenario. If one of her posts earlier on Thursday is any indication, she’s talking about Democrats. Greene shared a map of the states affected by Helene with an overlay of their political leanings by county. “This is a map of hurricane affected areas with an overlay of electoral map by political party shows how hurricane devastation could affect the election,” she wrote.
In case you missed middle school science class, hurricanes are large, powerful storms formed over warm tropical waters when evaporation rises into the atmosphere — condensing into storm systems — and creating a low-pressure zone that wind rushes into. As water continues to evaporate from the ocean surface, the cycle can create a large spinning vortex of powerful rains and strong winds known as a tropical cyclone. If this phenomenon forms in the Atlantic (and becomes powerful enough) it is referred to as a hurricane.
Hurricanes can be incredibly devastating, but they are not a man-made phenomenon, or something that can be plausibly controlled through human intervention. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which conducted research on various ways to divert or dispel tropical cyclones in the 1960s, potential methods “fall short of the mark because they fail to appreciate the size and power of tropical cyclones.”
In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, there has been a large-scale federal and state-level mobilization to provide aid to communities affected by the storm. The effort has been bipartisan and widely lauded by the governors of affected states. MAGA land, however, has rushed to politicize the tragedy in service of former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Trump's Lies About the Hurricane Response Are Getting More Outrageous
Earlier this week, Trump baselessly claimed that “the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of [North Carolina are] going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas,” ahead of a visit to a disaster zone in Valdosta, Georgia.
Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — who has claimed the government has “weather weapons” that can engineer floods, tornados, and hurricanes — falsely asserted on Thursday that “Biden has ordered a stand-down of over a thousand military helicopter crews in the south.”
“The hurricane conveniently destroyed the reddest areas in four southern states so that votes cannot be cast by Trump voters in the upcoming election! Now the Democrats don’t want the rural areas of the state brought back on line to ensure the blue city’s can steal it again,” Jones wrote.
Other conspiracy theories have circulated on TikTok , with some users claiming that the hurricane was intentionally engineered to level out the area in order to bolster lithium mining operations. “Let’s be clear, Hurricane Helene was a weather modified storm to displace the residents of western N. Carolina so a land grab can take place,” one video with over 100,000 views claims.
Natural disasters are traumatic events that often force mankind to reckon with how — despite centuries of technological advance and societal development — we are often powerless in the face of nature. They are the perfect breeding ground for conspiracies that attempt to ascribe a human cause to an inhuman tragedy, and Helene is by no means the first instance.
Greene, ever the shit-stirrer, has been a prolific voice in spreading such conspiracies. Who among us can forget when she blamed Jewish space lasers for the deadly 2018 California Camp wildfire?
'Put Your Head Down, Help Each Other Out': Inside Asheville's Helene Response
Local News
