Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell said the volume of misinformation surrounding Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton is starting to drop.
“We’re still seeing some misinformation out there,” Criswell told reporters during a press briefing Wednesday. “I do believe that the volume of the misinformation is starting to go down, but we need to continue to now remain focused on what our mission is, and that our mission is here to help people.”
Criswell said FEMA has people on the ground in all of the states — North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — that are impacted by Hurricane Helene and will provide help to those that will be hit by Hurricane Milton.
“And so we are going to stay focused on this,” she said. “We are not going to let the misinformation be a distraction to the important work we need to do.”
The administrator’s remarks come as the federal government’s response to the hurricanes and subsequent efforts to aid impacted residents has been hindered by the proliferation of misinformation online, with federal, state and local leaders arguing it has made the already strenuous recovery process even more difficult.
Some lawmakers from the states that were devastated by Hurricane Helene have tried to debunk false claims through their direct communication with constituents.
“Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock,” Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) said. “Nobody can control the weather,”
Criswell said Wednesday that FEMA is also countering misinformation impacting non-English speaking residents by providing insight in “multiple languages.”
“We’re always providing all of our outreach and our engagement into communities in multiple languages,” she told reporters. “We take the time to understand the demographics of a community and what the different languages spoken are, and we have staff that can support that and do information and outreach directly with people in the field.”
The FEMA chief warned that Hurricane Milton, which was at Category 4 status Wednesday morning, could alter the impacted communities “forever.”
“You need to prepare for catastrophic impacts,” she said Wednesday. “This is going to be a serious storm, one that could forever change communities that are still recovering from Helene.”
Criswell stated that the potential damage Hurricane Milton will cause is apparent from looking at its forecast.
“It is bringing catastrophic winds, it’s bringing catastrophic storm surge, increased flooding,” she said. “And so we know that we are going to have significant impacts as a result of this storm.”
“We want to make sure that we are partnering with the communities as they respond,” she added. “The most important thing right now is: How do we help make sure people are safe and that we have the resources and people available to support the lifesaving measures that are going to be needed over the next few days?”
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