The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reporting one incident of verbal harassment of a FEMA worker in Florida since Hurricane Milton.
The incident took place in Hillsborough County on October 14, when a FEMA worker was trying to help register survivors of the storm.
“A FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance team followed security protocol and safely exited the area which they were working,” the agency said in a statement. “FEMA continues to support communities in Florida impacted by Helene and Milton and help survivors apply for assistance.”
The incident in Florida comes days after a Tennessee sheriff said witnesses saw an armed group harassing FEMA workers in that state.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said misinformation on social media about the federal organization is causing some people to harass and threaten FEMA workers in the field.
Watch Criswell's full press briefing here:
“We are working with local law enforcement to provide the safest environment and harassment free environment for our staff. And so it's not just potential threats, but it's just harassment as well,” Criswell said.
While these incidents are disturbing, Criswell doesn’t think the data necessarily shows that they’re part of a wider trend.
“I don't know if I have data that says it's increased, but I know that we are much more focused on it just because of the amount of misinformation that was out there,” said Criswell.
Since Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida in early October, the Biden-Harris administration has approved more than $1.8 billion in federal funding for recovery efforts spearheaded by FEMA.
Watch this video to learn how to apply for aid from FEMA:
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