There Goes Hurricane Florence; Here Come the Disaster Myths
10th October 2018
Over the past week, we watched this myth unfold in real time as Hurricane Florence devastated the Carolinas. A headline on a Florida TV station’s website that read “Looting already starts as Florence arrives” captured the attitude many in the media take on as a disaster begins. They find a single, isolated incident, and frame it as “just the beginning” of an impending crime wave—with no evidence that this is the case. Reports like this can instill fear and convince people that they shouldn’t evacuate.