“Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes”: for Trump supporters, even disasters are political throwing weapons
The strong political polarization of recent years in the United States of America, especially since Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House, has reached all levels of American society. There are death threats for the most banal reasons, debates and doubts about scientific facts that have been consolidated for decades. After the passage of hurricanes “Helene” and “Milton”not even meteorologists and civil protection are safe from the fury of extremists.
In recent weeks, several Republican leaders and supporters of Donald Trump have sought to politicize the passage of hurricanes through the southeast of the country. Some have baselessly accused the Biden Administration of limiting federal government support to states led by conservatives. Others, like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, went further and questioned the most basic and simple science, inexplicably suggesting that Joe Biden and the Democratic Party controlled the formation, size and path of the two hurricanes.
To the New York Timesseveral meteorologists and members of civil protection teams, who covered the passage of hurricanes or who helped populations survive disasters, revealed that they have been the target of an increasing number of death threats and harassment. Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences program at the University of Georgia, laments the “palpable difference in tone and aggression toward people” in the field of meteorology, and points the finger at political leaders, with high media profiles, who have spread theories of conspiracy and disinformation about the phenomena.
Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society, also noted that harassment of meteorologists, by climate deniers or ultra-conservative figures, is not new. “The difference is that they always came from ‘marginal’ groups; Now, we see that [as teorias] have become common”, he pointed out.
In an interview with CNN, before “Milton” passed through Florida – a hurricane that reached category 5 before reaching the North American continent –, a journalist repeated allegations heard on the street and asked if the storm was controlled by people. And the expert replied: “It’s amazing that a journalist has to ask me that question.”
Other meteorologists interviewed by the New York Times talk about similar situations and warn that this politicization of climate and science, carried out by Republicans, creates risks for the credibility of forecasts and warnings from experts during extreme weather phenomena (especially in a country so affected by tornadoes and hurricanes).
“Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes. I can’t believe I had to write this,” said Katie Nickolaou, an expert from Michigan, in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist at the Washington Post, said he received hundreds of comments and messages, accusing him of ‘hiding’ the truth about the Government and any control over hurricanes. “Part of me wanted to say, ‘If you don’t trust my warnings, then stay where you are. Stay there and see what happens,’” he said.
Authorities and civil protection workers speak of similar threats. In Georgia and North Carolina, two of the states hardest hit by Hurricane Helene in late September, conservative leaders accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of stealing donations intended for Ukraine, selling secretly land in affected areas to mine lithium or hide bodies under rubble.
Joe Biden, President of the United States
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The theories were spread by Donald Trump himself who, at rallies and on his social network, claimed that emergency funds were being diverted to support immigrants. And even after Republican governors praised Joe Biden’s support, he continued to accuse Democrats of not helping areas where local government is led by conservatives.
Deanne Criswell, FEMA administrator, explained to ABC News that the increase in threats and misinformation on social media has hampered field operations and created “fear among employees.” On Sunday, the agency announced that it would make “operational adjustments” to protect its staff and storm survivors.
“I’ve worked in disasters for 20 years and I can’t remember a disaster surrounded by so much misinformation,” Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Times.
Category 4 hurricane “Helene” was the worst phenomenon of its kind to affect the United States since hurricane “Maria” in 2017. It hit the southeastern US at the end of September, especially the states of Florida, Georgia , North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as Honduras, Cuba and the Cayman Islands, leaving around 250 dead and thousands homeless.
Two weeks later, hurricane “Milton”, which was cataloged by the White House and authorities as a storm of gigantic proportions, capable of causing thousands of deaths, ended up losing strength before reaching Florida as ‘just’ a category hurricane. 3, causing 14 deaths and flooding across the region.
