Hurricane

Did the hurricane hunters of the Air Force Reserve "abandon their mission" because their aircraft suffered cracked windows while chasing Hurricane Ida in late August 2021? No, that's not true: An aircraft used by the hurricane hunters had a single "spider" crack in its windshield on August 28, 2021, a day before Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana. According to…

Did the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) force COVID-19 vaccines onto Hurricane Ida evacuees who were leaving New Orleans? No, that's not true: FEMA told Lead Stories this is false and a spokesperson for the mayor said it is not happening. The claim originated in an article published by Real Raw News on September 1, 2021, titled, "FEMA FORCIBLY VACCINATING…

Did animals kept at the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo in New Jersey escape during the state's experience with the remnants of Hurricane Ida? No, that's not true: The animals did not flee the zoo during the storm. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on September 2, 2021. It included a screenshot of a tweet attributed to…

Did hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Issac, Harvey and Ida all make landfall on the same day of the calendar? No, that's not true: While they made landfall within a few calendar days of each other in different years, they did not all make landfall on the same day. A scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University said…

Does the Zello app, which allows users to talk via a push-to-talk (or "walkie-talkie") feature, work without a cellular signal? Not unless the device has an internet connection. According to a Zello sales representative, if there is no cellular signal, the phone must have access to Wi-Fi for the app to work. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived…

Did megachurch pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen not open his "18,000-seat" Lakewood Church during freezing, icy weather in Houston, declining to help people left without shelter or heat and power? No, that's not true: Lakewood Church opened its facilities to help people left without heat and power. The rare harsh weather has overwhelmed Texas' electrical power system. Houston news media…

Is "Big Tech" letting child porn distributors freely operate while restricting people who post content that companies like Amazon and Facebook consider to be dangerous falsehoods? No, that's not how it works: No one owns the internet, which is a network of connected computers on which the World Wide Web operates via a common programming code that allows users to…

Is this Joel Osteen's house? No, that's not true: The sprawling mansion, shown in a Facebook post, is not Joel and Victoria Osteen's River Oaks, Texas, home. It is the Hidden Hills, California, home of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, according to published reports. The related claims about Osteen's taxes and federal aid are made vaguely and without evidence and…

Is this an accurate list of deadliest days in American history? No, that's not true: While the design of the infographic is clearly well-intentioned, this chart lacks some critical parameters for comparisons. This chart of lethal events separate from each day's unrelated mortality includes natural disasters, acts of war and terrorism, and the coronavirus pandemic, but neglects to include the…

Is a lawsuit that accused Donald Trump of raping a 13-year-old aspiring model "upcoming"? No, that's not true: The suit, which was filed back in 2016, was voluntarily dismissed that same year. There are no scheduled dates related to the case. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) on October 12, 2020. The post included a short message…