Houses demolished, savings accounts drained, memorabilia gone; Hurricanes Helene and Milton have impacted millions of lives and cost billions in damages. Not only were the effects of these hurricanes devastating, but the aftermath of news circulating around the world has created distrust with the government’s ability to help residents, and the credibility of news.
Brennan Marilla, uncle of BSM student Abby Silverman and Florida resident, has experienced four hurricanes; the worst being Hurricanes Helene and Milton. In the wake of the recent disasters, they lost their house, two cars, furniture and belongings. Marilla remarks that though they have insurance, it will not cover the expenses. He appealed to The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a government organization that provides financial support and disaster relief. If his appeal is rejected a second time, Marilla will have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace their belongings. Marilla expresses his opinions on FEMA after negative experiences with them in the past. “The issue is that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and has to fund border security, anti terrorism, Secret Service, [and]emergencies. The department is broke because of all the border issues. They send people $750 for emergency food and shelter, and that doesn’t go very far.I think FEMA is good, they just don’t have the money to help,” Marilla said.
Marilla has the means to recover from this disaster, though many will never be able to regain what they lost. People rely on organizations like FEMA to help them recover, but their lives will never be the same. “Some of these people can’t afford insurance, so their house is wrecked, and they don’t have the money to fix [it].There’s other people on the mainland who had flooding, wind damage, trees fall in their house, and they don’t have the money to take care of themselves,” Marilla said.
People have suffered real life consequences, and that has been displayed by the news. Unfortunately, there is distrust in the news which causes some to question the validity of what they see. Charity scams, fake news, and AI generated pictures have flooded the media and negatively affected people’s understanding of natural disasters.“I think it definitely makes me question what I see online, whether it’s true or whether it has credibility, especially when you see stuff on social media, it’s so easy to just scroll and take that information and make it true,” senior Nelle Teitscheid said.
The credibility of the news they receive is coming into question, especially news created internationally. For example, one AI-generated picture of Florida has been posted on countless news websites in Russia, depicting Disney World flooded. Located in central Florida, Disney World, if affected by the Hurricanes, is far from flooded. The photo depicts an unrealistic coloring, missing windows, and adds blue structures that don’t exist (Reuters). “I did hear about that picture of Disney World being underwater. I heard it was ridiculous looking. The castle wasn’t underwater, it sounds like that was a totally fake picture,” Marilla said.
Marilla and Teitscheid both agree that though many people are in distress, most will recover and see the light in all the destruction and darkness. Still inspired by hope, Marilla believes Florida will recover and rebuild, but not everyone will be left with the same means. “Florida will survive. Florida will rebuild. It always does, but it affects a lot of people very differently,” Marilla said.