DeSantis says Florida is in charge of recovery amid ‘crap’ being shared online

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is in charge of storm preparations and recovery when asked to dispel false information about the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA has been fighting online posts and other attacks for nearly two weeks about rescue and recovery operations involving Hurricane Helene, and the misinformation started to spread to steps taken before Hurricane Milton hit Florida on Wednesday evening.

Among the misinformation about Milton: FEMA was blocking people from evacuating and hiring armed security to keep people from returning to their homes.

“I think most people are wise to this,” DeSantis said Wednesday during a news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center. “We live in an era where if you put out crap online, you can get a lot of people to share it, and you can monetize it. That just the way it is.”

He added that, “FEMA is not leading this show. We are leading this show here in Florida.”

DeSantis pointed to an executive order he issued Saturday and said “the default is you have a right to immediately return to your home following the storm.”

In a separate press briefing Wednesday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said a lot of misinformation was spread but that local and state officials had been strong in urging people to get out of harm’s way.

“We’re still seeing some misinformation out there,” Criswell said. “I do believe that the volume of the misinformation is starting to go down, but we need to continue to now remain focused on what our mission is, and that our mission is here to help people.”

President Joe Biden was more direct in the briefing, putting some blame on former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, along with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for “saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather.”

“There’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” Biden said. “It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken, and it’s harmful to those who need help the most.”

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2024.