Hurricane

Was a C-17 aircraft loaded with supplies for Hurricane Helene victims but never delivered just to give Vice President Kamala Harris a photo opportunity? No, that's not true: The plane Harris took photos with had maintenance issues and didn't take off, according to the North Carolina National Guard. The supplies were flown to Asheville, North Carolina, on a different plane…

Did a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" predict Hurricane Milton by showing that name on-screen during a Kent Brockman news broadcast segment? No, that's not true: A clip from the episode was altered to add the words "Hurricane Milton," a storm that made landfall in October 2024. The actual episode featured a storm named Hurricane Barbara. The claim…

Did Mission Hospital in North Carolina contain 900 unidentified bodies of Hurricane Helene victims and was the hospital turned into a morgue amid the disaster? No, that's not true: "Mission Hospital is not serving as the local community morgue," a hospital spokesperson told Lead Stories. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told Lead Stories they had "no…

Do viral images authentically capture the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Milton at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida? No, that's not true: Those pictures were generated by AI and first posted on a website with a satire label. On October 11, 2024, Disney announced it had reopened its theme parks. The claim appeared in a video (archived here)…

Does a National Hurricane Center tracking map show a new storm heading for Florida immediately after Hurricane Milton hit in early October 2024? No, that's not true: The Center's "Atlantic Tropical Cyclones and Disturbances" map shows no storm setting its sights on the Sunshine State. Instead, the image on social media is an old map from November 2022. The claim…

Does a video show two active tornadoes on the ground simultaneously in Florida during Hurricane Milton's landfall in October 2024? No, that's not true: The video on X shows two active tornadoes on the ground simultaneously in Nebraska in 2014. The person who made the video confirmed that the tornado sightings were recorded in Pilger, Nebraska, in 2014 in a…

Does a viral video show "two large tornado producing supercells" in southern Florida on October 9, 2024, just before Hurricane Milton's landfall? No, that's not true: The video is a compilation of digitally created visuals and footage that date back years and months before Milton. No clips in the video were recorded in October 2024. The claim appeared in a…

Does a video clip show a speaker saying, "We should focus our efforts on LGBTQIA people" during a disaster preparedness meeting by the Federal Emergency Management Agency? No, that's not true: This was a 2023 panel event, not a "disaster preparedness meeting." According to transcripts the statement about LGBTQIA focus didn't come up in the clip or in the longer…

Does a video shared on Facebook genuinely show underwater HAARP devices surrounding Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall? No, that's not true: The video shows a coral restoration project in the Florida Keys, two marine scientists told Lead Stories. The antenna-like objects seen in the video are part of that coral reef rehabilitation project. A version of the claim…

Does a video show "twin tornadoes" hitting Miami at the same time Hurricane Milton did? No, that's not true: This video footage was taken in August 2024, not October 2024 when Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida. Also, the columns seen in the video are waterspouts, not tornadoes, according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. Finally, this video was…