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Flooded streets in Tampa, Florida, after Hurricane Milton tore through the state.

It’s been a terrible week for extreme weather with Hurricane Helene wreaking devastation on North Carolina and Hurricane Milton slamming into Florida. Making matters worse: Misinformation, conspiracy theories and false claims that hamper hurricane responders’ ability to operate and discourage survivors from seeking help.

“It is absolutely the worst I have ever seen,” Deanne Criswell, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, said on Tuesday. “It’s creating distrust in the federal government, but also the state government, and we have so many first responders that have been working to go out and help these communities.”

Criswell told reporters that she had anticipated some misinformation, “but not the extent that we’re seeing.” The federal agency has long had a rumor control page to combat the scams that typically flourish after a natural disaster.

Many of the false statements can be traced to Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, who has falsely accused federal responders of diverting disaster relief money to house undocumented migrants. Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla founder and Trump supporter, has amplified false claims on Twitter to his more than 200 million followers.

Disinformation has been particularly rampant in Georgia and North Carolina, according to the New York Times. Soon after a public meeting in western North Carolina’s Rutherford County to talk about the damage and ongoing search-and-rescue efforts, for example, a conspiracy theory spread online that it included secret discussions about bulldozing, confiscating or selling land for a profit or to mine lithium.

As lies have swirled, FEMA has faced false claims that it is stealing donations or diverting disaster aid to Ukraine. For residents in storm-affected areas, already dealing with limited power and cell service, the misinformation makes it harder to know what to do to stay safe.

“It’s un-American, it really is,” President Biden said at an event on Tuesday. “People are scared to death, people know that lives are at stake.”

A burned ocean container with damaged lithium-ion batteries is........

© Forbes