Hold onto your hats, folks! We're about to embark on a journey through the turbulent waters of hurricane rumors. Get ready for a wild ride filled with sensational claims, DIY disaster hacks, and conspiracy theories — all swirling around like a digital whirlwind.
But don't worry! We'll navigate this stormy sea and uncover the truth so you don't end up with a mess on your hands. So, buckle up and join us as we sail toward clarity and understanding. It's time to separate fact from fiction and weather the storm of misinformation together.
The claim is that the federal government, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the 2006 PETS law, allows pet owners to bring their pets to any hotel or motel during weather-related evacuations.
However, neither FEMA nor the 2006 PETS law requires hotels and motels to accommodate pets during emergencies. It's totally up to the hotel's discretion.
The claim here is that hurricanes with female names cause more damage, and people perceive their risk to be lower, leading to less preparedness.
The problem is that the data for this is based on a single study in 2014. This study decided to use very complicated math to answer a basic question.
Many other scientists have questioned the assumptions and methods used (including the fact male hurricane names weren't used before 1979).
This is just a hard one to prove with pure data alone, so it's unproven. Either way, it's probably best to follow the proper preparedness techniques whether it's a masculine or feminine name.
Storm lore holds that opening a window slightly during a hurricane will equalize the pressure of a house (and prevent damage), but does it actually work?
Turns out, no. Not really. The first thing a storm typically does to a house is blow out the windows due to the wind. Rather than preventing destruction, opening a window could cause more destruction. Instead, board up the windows to reduce damage from pressure.
Some online posts advise storing valuables in a dishwasher during a hurricane.
However, a repair shop owner warned against trusting a machine designed to get wet inside. Tales of flooded dishwashers and lost treasures echoed his caution. While some claimed success, hard evidence was scarce. So, for now, maybe stick to using dishwashers for dishes, not for saving important documents and items.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey's rampage through southeastern Texas in 2017, a curious phenomenon flooded social media feeds faster than floodwaters engulfing a levee: a meme suggesting that hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and Harvey all made landfall on Aug. 29.
However, upon closer inspection, it turned out this viral meme was more soggy than sound. A quick dive into historical hurricane data revealed that only one of these storms, Isaac in 2012, actually hit the U.S. on Aug. 29.