Meteorologists tracking Hurricane Milton’s progress are facing abuse, conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, as two major hurricanes hit the U.S. and an unprecedented surge in misinformation claims and even death threats.
A series of lies and threats have been made in the two weeks since Hurricane Helen hit six states, killing hundreds of people, and the Milton crashed into Florida on Wednesday.
The scale of the misinformation fueled by Donald Trump and his allies is so great that it is hampering the agency’s ability to assist hurricane-ravaged communities, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) says. That’s what it means.
Katie Nicholaw, a Michigan-based meteorologist, said she and her colleagues received messages claiming that Category 6 hurricanes do (or don’t) exist and that they are created and directed by meteorologists and the government. He said he has been the brunt of many of the conspiracies. It is even said that the hurricane (which is not actually the case), the scientist should be killed and the radar equipment should be destroyed.
“I’ve never seen a storm that gathers so much misinformation. We’re just putting out the fires of misinformation here and there,” Nicolaou said.
“There are many people who say I created and piloted the hurricane, and some who think we control the weather. A hurricane has the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs. We have to point out that we can’t hope to control it, but it has turned into more violent rhetoric, with some saying that the people who created Milton in particular should be killed.”
One post directed at Nicolaou said: “Hold your breath to the people who created them and their affiliates.” She replied: “Killing meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes. I can’t believe I had to type that.”
“People call me a lot of expletives, tell me to shut up and sit down, people think it’s okay to take out the Doppler radar because they think it controls the weather.” Nicolau said. “It takes up a lot of work and free time to deal with all this. It’s very tiring.”
As Helen and Milton gained momentum in the Gulf of Mexico, widespread misinformation spread, including Trump’s claim that Fema depleted funds intended for hurricane survivors by giving money to illegal immigrants. Violent threats have also become common, with posts on TikTok, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) claiming that Fema workers should be beaten or “once found, be arrested, shot or hanged.” has been done.
Even more bizarrely, some of President Trump’s closest allies have baselessly claimed that the federal government is somehow controlling hurricanes. A video shared by Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, claimed that “Hurricane Helen was a weather-engineered attack.”
“Yes, they can control the weather,” far-right lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in X last week. “It’s ridiculous for someone to lie and say it’s impossible.”
Joe Biden responded sharply to this proliferation of falsehoods, accusing Trump of an “onslaught of lies” and telling the former president to “save lives.”
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Biden called the weather control claims “absolutely ridiculous.” “That’s very stupid. It has to stop.”
Humans can make hurricanes worse by burning fossil fuels to create hotter oceans and atmospheres, giving them more energy, but they cannot create, control, or steer individual storms. Additionally, Fema’s disaster relief funds for hurricane-hit communities are separate from and unaffected by funds spent to provide shelter to migrants.
But for meteorologists, the experience surrounding Helen and Milton is just an extreme continuation of a trend in which ordinary people are increasingly getting their information from extremist figures online rather than from experts, says a former TV weatherman. says academic and climatologist Chris Groninger. He talked about the climate crisis in his predictions.
“There are a lot of people in the modern Republican Party who have huge followings on social media to spread this misinformation,” Groninger said. “I’m seeing former colleagues receiving threats, and I’m also getting messages that we’re directing hurricanes into dangerous states. It’s alarming and we’ve never seen anything like this in any disaster before.” I have never had one.”
Groninger said meteorologists “will reach burnout.” Are there any other professions where people who just want to do their job are targeted? All we’re trying to do is protect life and property in extreme weather conditions. ”
