Why Disasters Like Hurricanes Milton and Helene Unleash So Much Misinformation

While Florida recovers from Hurricane Milton, the second dangerous storm to hit the U.S. Southeast in just a couple of weeks, a flood of misinformation threatens to compound the disasters. A major target of false claims is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government body coordinating recovery efforts from Hurricanes Milton and Helene—the latter of which has killed at least 230 people since the storm made landfall in late September. FEMA has set up a debunking page because it faces so many harmful and inaccurate rumors. 

…

“You always see misinformation after disasters,” says Lisa Fazio, an associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University. “You don’t always see national political figures being the ones spreading that misinformation.”

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): Scientific American