‘Get yourself a rabbit hole’: Conspiracy theories about Hurricane Helene are flooding TikTok

Conspiracy theories have a tendency to spring up following natural disasters, and Hurricane Helene is no exception. As the death toll rose to 200 on Friday morning, conspiracy theorists were out in force spreading lies about everything from voter fraud to industrial land seizures.

One theory gaining ground on the internet is the idea that the storm was not a natural phenomenon but was instead engineered to devastate North Carolina and create access to lithium mining land.

“Can I say what I find suspicious as rubbish?” said one user in a video that had a total of more than 1.8 million views before it was deleted. “One of the areas affected by Hurricane Helene is the largest lithium deposit in the world, and the DOD just entered into an agreement with this company right here to mine lithium for electric vehicles starting in 2025. Now that place is completely destroyed.”

One user encouraged viewers to look up the theory for themselves, adding, “Just look up the flood and lithium and you’ll find a rabbit hole going down.” The video had over 204,900 views before it was also removed.

Richard Rood, a professor of climate at the University of Michigan, says that Hurricane Helene is “a type of persistent climate, influenced by the accumulation of heat due to the increase in greenhouse gases.” We have made the storm more dangerous with the added heat and moisture we have because of global warming.”

However, he points to the history of scientists who talk about weaponizing the climate. “This happened just after World War II. It was an idea that died its natural death because of its impossibility—indeed, its ridiculousness,” he says. “However, it leaves the seeds of conspiracy theories.”

These claims also came from outside of TikTok. “As the United States government and its partners in the big criminal banking companies stand to make billions and billions of dollars from these lithium deposits in the suburbs that are under houses, under schools, and they have no access unless there is no land. somehow completely cleaned up and available for mining, what better way to do that than to wash away the people who live there and everything that belongs to them, and blame it on climate change?” Popular right-wing conspiracy writer Stew Peters says so in a video.

Another prominent theory plays with the idea that the path of destruction is hitting the Republican territories the hardest. “Don’t worry guys, climate change isn’t real! “It’s just fortunate that Hurricane Helene is one of the most ‘inland damage storms’ in history and that hundreds of Trump-supporting counties were hit hard during the most important election of our lifetime,” said organizer Matt Wallace with a video. floods. The post received 11.8 million views, despite being released so quickly.

“This is a political rhetoric,” said Rood. “It’s meant to divide, to stir up conflict.” He also adds, “Also, if it was intended to prevent the ability to vote, it may have been a huge failure.” There are probably more pro-Harris voters affected in Asheville and Boone than pro-Trump voters in the surrounding counties. “

However, Republicans need not fear: Donald Trump is coming to their rescue—at least, according to an AI-generated image of the former president wading through floodwaters, wearing an orange life vest. “I don’t think FB wants this photo on FB,” read the caption of that post. “They’ve been removing it for a long time.” The photo was originally shared on Meta and was debunked by Lead Stories and PolitiFact. Maybe that’s why it’s being removed. . . just a thought.