CNN host Kate Bolduan asked Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell Thursday about alleged misinformation surrounding Hurricane Milton in the aftermath of the storm.
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, Wednesday night and knocked out power for 3 million residents and caused mass flooding in several communities. Bolduan asked about misinformation regarding “false rumors being spread” about Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the response by FEMA to combat the so-called false claims.
“Last time, we spoke earlier in the week, we were talking about one of the things that FEMA was forced to fight against is misinformation with regard to false rumors being spread, and that had to do with Hurricane Helene and the impacts of that. It’s early on, but are your teams seeing that level of misinformation continue to spread in regard to any difference with the impacts of Hurricane Milton? What would you say is the status report of the battle you all have been needing to wage against this misinformation?” Bolduan asked.
“Well I think as we’ve looked from Hurricane Helene, we’ve had great support from governors and congressional members, local leaders, really helping to push back on that misinformation and we did see a decrease even though there were still some voices out there that are still trying to spread these lies, which is really unfortunate and just a distraction to our ability to support the state and locals with what they’re doing. I have not had any reports yet of an increase in misinformation as a result from Milton, but I do have a team that watches this closely and if we find that we need to get out there and be proactive in our messaging to help dispel these rumors, we’ll certainly do that,” Criswell replied.
Bolduan also asked about Criswell’s assessment of the damage done by the storm and mentioned the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field coming off from the strong winds.
The hurricane, which dropped from a Category 4 to a Category 3 storm right before reaching landfall, had devastating 120 mph sustained winds and higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center. An estimated 2 million people, particularly in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas, were under a flash flood warning from the Tampa National Weather Service, and 3.3 million energy customers were without electricity as of 7 a.m. Thursday, according to NBC News.
Members of President Joe Biden’s administration have repeatedly warned that Republicans were spreading misinformation about Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Former President Donald Trump has come under fire for stating that FEMA could not properly allocate funds to hurricane relief because it allocated money to help illegal immigrants.
Vice President Kamala Harris lamented leaders for allegedly misleading “desperate people” into not receiving aid during a Wednesday phone call interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. She also attacked Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not taking her phone call Monday regarding the storm, though Biden assured that he and DeSantis have been in constant communication.
DeSantis has repeatedly said he did not know Harris tried to call him and added that she is trying to involve herself in the storm’s response for political purposes.
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