After Hurricane Helene, false claims spread online that the government created the storm using a weather weapon. “Basically, the rumor was that, you know, the government controls the weather and that this was a direct attack on the area,” says the sheriff of one of the impacted counties. He fears this pattern will become the new normal: natural disaster occurs, conspiracies spread, and then outside groups rush in, making it more difficult for law enforcement and rescue teams to do their jobs. #weather #disasterresponse #misinformation