By DKO Pike
Wheeler, WI
Nov. 3, 2024
A series of massive hurricanes battered Florida and the East Coast earlier this fall. Hundreds of people have died. Millions were forced to evacuate in the face of predicted storm surges and flooding. Damages run in the tens of billions of dollars for each event. Many returned to find their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Electrical service is taking weeks to be restored. More damage is possible before this tropical storm season is over at the end of November.
Despite substantial scientific evidence linking the severity of these storms to the record-breaking warmth of Gulf of Mexico water, many have ignored all evidence. They repeat stories about our government manipulating the weather by seeding clouds. This article links to those claims and has facts to explain why this is not true. Another storyline reasons that our Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response is being guided politically.
Stories often start with politically slanted news outlets with perhaps less vetting than needed. Those distortions are repeated and further amplified on social media. Take a look at this Interactive Media Bias Chart to see how the news outlets you listen to rank on two scales of bias: truthfulness and political bias.
Some news outlets reported a fake story that the maximum payment any disaster victim can receive is $750. The reality is that $750 is just the first emergency payment to enable storm victims to purchase essential food and water as those systems are being repaired. There are a variety of programs that will help provide relief to homes or businesses with wind damage. Some of these operate at the state level. FEMA’s website is a good starting point for finding out what options are available.
Flood damage requires further study to determine if a family will be able to rebuild at the same location or if they must move. Sadly, the majority of flood victims are finding that their private insurance will not pay for these devastating damages. Due to the expense, some homeowners dropped more inclusive policies that would have provided some flood damage repairs. Federal money is often used when relocation is the best option.
Campaigns to misinform disrupt workers' ability to do their jobs most effectively. Federal staff feared venturing into the field to assist storm victims due to both threats and reports of violence directed at workers who sought to provide assistance, as reported by the American Federation of Government Employees.
Who does this help in a crisis? Some who hope to gain are those who seek to profit from continuing to pollute our skies by burning oil and gas when other alternatives could be adopted more rapidly and efficiently. Manipulating the truth paints the current administration in a bad light. In the face of a close election that distortion could be just enough to manipulate voters to assume the other party will do a better job managing inflation or whatever issues dominate our concerns.
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