Hurricane Milton may have made landfall on Florida’s west coast last Wednesday, but the storm isn’t the only thing creating chaos. In the aftermath, a wave of misinformation has flooded social media, politicians’ speeches, and news feeds. And with the 2024 U.S. presidential election just weeks away, the hurricane seems to have become another tool in the political arena.

But let’s get something straight—Hurricane Milton is not a political event. It’s a natural disaster, one that has left more than 20 people dead, 2.5 million without power, and caused up to $50 billion in damage. Yet, that hasn’t stopped some politicians from using it to stir the pot ahead of Election Day.

Trump’s take: The worst response in history?

Former President Donald Trump wasted no time jumping into the fray. At a campaign event in Pennsylvania, with Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida, Trump accused the Biden administration of bungling the response. “THE WORST RESPONSE TO A STORM OR HURRICANE DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY,” he yelled on social media.

It’s classic Trump—capital letters, big accusations, and a whole lot of drama. According to him, Vice President Kamala Harris has led the “worst rescue operation in history” in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, Milton’s predecessor.

And if that wasn’t enough, Trump has made some serious accusations against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

In classic Trump fashion, his claims about FEMA go beyond just botched disaster response. One of his most controversial accusations is that the Biden administration has mismanaged FEMA’s funds, diverting disaster relief money to other, unrelated causes. According to Trump, FEMA’s budget has been “raided” to support initiatives like border security, immigration efforts, and even other government programs, leaving it underfunded and ill-prepared to respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Milton.

Quite a bit of controversy. While it sounds dramatic, the reality is far less clear-cut. There’s no solid evidence to back up Trump’s claims that FEMA’s budget has been slashed or repurposed. In fact, FEMA’s annual budget is publicly available, and any significant reallocation of funds would need to go through Congress. There’s also little to suggest that the agency’s budget has been drastically altered under Biden’s leadership.

Harris hits back

Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced President Biden as the Democratic candidate in July, is trying to keep things grounded. “This is not a time for us to point fingers at each other,” she said during an interview with the Weather Channel. Harris urged everyone to focus on working together during this crisis.

But while Harris has kept her cool, President Joe Biden took a more direct approach when addressing Trump’s claims. “Get a life, man. Help these people.” said Biden in a White House briefing following Milton’s landfall. Biden went on to call Trump’s misinformation “damn un-American,” pointing to the very real consequences of spreading falsehoods during a crisis.

The conspiracy theories

As if a major hurricane and a heated election weren’t enough, conspiracy theorists have decided to add their own flavour to the storm. 

State of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took to X to claim that the hurricanes (both Milton and Helene) were somehow created by people. Who are these mysterious people? Well, according to Greene, some of them might work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA, for the record, is not out there creating hurricanes. As much as we’d like to think we can control the weather, it’s simply not true. 

Hugh Willoughby, a Florida International University professor who worked at NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division for over two decades, debunked these claims: “We’re all trying to prevent human suffering. And if somebody were deliberately doing the sort of things they imagine, we’d blow the whistle on it.”

Unfortunately, these conspiracy theories continue to gain traction, with some even using AI-generated images to “prove” their claims. For example, photos of a flooded Disney World have been making the rounds online, amassing millions of views. The problem? Those images are fake. Mickey and the gang are fine—dry, even.

The election factor

The 2024 presidential election was always going to be a tight race, but Hurricanes Helene and Milton have added a new wrinkle. With many parts of the South still reeling from Helene, and Milton wreaking fresh havoc, people in some of the hardest-hit states are concerned about how the storms will impact voting.

In places like North Carolina and Georgia, both key battlegrounds, lawsuits have been filed to extend voter registration deadlines. North Carolina is implementing emergency voting measures, like making it easier to change polling sites and request absentee ballots. Meanwhile, Florida has yet to pass any similar rules in the wake of Milton, though Governor DeSantis did issue orders to adjust voting procedures after Helene.

As the clean-up continues and the political mudslinging drags on, it’s important to remember what’s really at stake. Hurricanes aren’t just opportunities for politicians to score points—they’re life-and-death situations for millions of Americans. And while we might chuckle at the absurdity of some conspiracy theories (no, the government isn’t using hurricanes to control the election), the consequences of misinformation are very real.

So, as the storms pass and the election draws nearer, let’s hope for a calmer political climate.