Florida is about to begin what expected to be a long recovery from Hurricane Milton. That storm as well as Helene have heightened concerns over misinformation about post storm relief efforts from the federal government. Bad actors using artificial intelligence being used to generate fake photos, for example, may find that tougher following Milton. Suzanne Horsley studies communication following natural disasters at the University of Alabama. She says it’s harder to create fake images in urban areas like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina…
“I think some of the differences are that with Helene, most of the destruction was in insolated, mountainous areas, and with Katrina, it was mostly in New Orleans and the surrounding areas that are low Ground, easy to see. So for camera, for broadcast television, it was easier to tell the story in Katrina than it is to tell the story in Helene,” Horsley said.
The rumors surrounding Hurricane Helene are many. There are false claims that people taking federal relief money could see their land seized. Or that $750 is the most they will ever get to rebuild. Or that the agency's director — on the ground since the storm hit — was beaten up and hospitalized. As the U.S. agency tasked with responding to disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fighting misinformation since Helene slammed into Florida nearly two weeks ago and brought a wide swath of destruction as it headed north. UA’s Suzanne Horsley says it’s also up to the general public to do their homework when viewing content that may be false.
“You have to do some homework. You have to be media literate, and that includes social media. So for example, a friend of mine sent me some images that were very compelling and very sad, very heart wrenching. I did a quick Google search and immediately pointed out that these were AI generated,” she said.
The false claims are being fueled by former President Donald Trump and others just ahead of the presidential election, and are coming as the agency is gearing up to respond to a second major disaster: Hurricane Milton is set to strike Florida on Wednesday. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Tuesday that she has never seen the disinformation problem as bad as it's been with Helene, which hit hard in North Carolina, a state key to winning the election.
"It's absolutely the worst that I have ever seen," an uninjured Criswell said.
She said the online rumors are demoralizing for staff or volunteers who have left family behind to deploy to a disaster zone. And she said there's a real risk that local residents will hear these rumors and be too afraid to apply for the help they're entitled to.
