When I read Tammy Murga’s story in The Union-Tribune reporting that representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be visiting Imperial Beach this week, almost immediately I thought of North Carolina.
The federal workers will be visiting the South County city to speak with residents about the noxious odors that have been wafting from the Tijuana River Valley and harassing families and individuals for what smells like an eternity. Their goal to understand what health problems have arisen and examine possible solutions. Presumably they’ll be met by people eager to share their experiences with the feds.
Meanwhile in Lake Lure, North Carolina an armed man was arrested for threatening government workers who were their to aid residents recovering from the devastating affects of Hurricane Helene.
He said he was responding to social media reports that Federal Emergency Management Agency workers were withholding supplies from hurricane victims.
The reports were false.
In a seemingly unrelated incident, witnesses in Tennessee reported that a group of FEMA workers helping with hurricane relief efforts there were harassed by a small group of armed men.
The two episodes were capstones in the days leading up to Hurricane Helene’s landfall.
Posts on social media, some by established politicians or people running for public office, irresponsibly suggested involvement by the federal government would do more harm than good.
Undoubtedly there have been occasions in the past when federal agencies have bungled response efforts but those typically occurred in offices far removed from the disaster sites and were not the result of malevolent orchestrations.
Agencies like the CDC and FEMA are, at their core designed to provide aid to those in need.
No doubt the CDC workers will be greeted with civility when canvassing Imperial Beach this week. As they should be.
Sowing the seeds of distrust during times of disaster and fear are, to say the least, harmful especially when disinformation travels near instantaneously and spreads like a cancer. Passing along and acting on bad information hinders solutions and hurts those who are already hurting. Be mindful of what you read, and post, on social media.
