Tropical cyclone (Hurricane) Irma is bearing down on south Florida.
That’s bad enough.
But the RUMORS …
They are more dangerous than the storm.
”All tourists must evacuate Florida. True or false?
False.
Tourists were ordered to leave the Florida KEYS, and most did. A day later, residents of the keys were ordered to head for the mainland. Many did.
Everyone is ordered to evacuate St. Augustine
True or false.
Everyone was ordered out of St. Augustine in October 2016 as Hurricane Matthew approached. With Irma — as of September 7, no one has been told to evacuate St. Augustine. People living in coastal areas, low lying areas, and in mobile homes may be ordered to find shelter in a safer location, but if Irma goes up the center of the state, the folks in St. Augustine, and elsewhere on the mid-Florida Atlantic coast — other than those people on the barrier islands or close to the mainland shore — probably will be allowed to ride out the storm in situ. “Course that the type home construction will play a role in the go or stay decision.
People who live in stilt houses on the beach should not. Not a rumor; a fact.
I suspect these and similar rumors start when someone hears (or understands) only part of a weather person’s report and extrapolates as their imagine runs wild. I suspect that most tv weather reporters have (a) little or no experience with weather reporting and (b) have even less experience with local weather. There are exceptions, but as with the news readers (“anchors”), most are prone to believe what a “reporter” --
or computer model -- tells them; they lack “journalistic” experience to challenge a “reporter’s” facts.
Interestingly, having just watched interviews with tourists who are planning to ride out Irma in south Florida, people STILL tell me “All tourists have been ordered to evacuate Florida.” Not just the keys. Not just Dade County. “All” of Florida.
Are people so anxious about Irma that they refuse to deal in reality, even when it is before their eyes; even when they hear it with their own ears?
The people who accept these rumors as fact refuse to accept anything that contradicts the rumor.
Ask them the source of their “facts” and the answer is “”So-n-So, but I don’t know where So-n-So heard it.”
Some people innocently believe and pass on rumors. These people keep Snopes and other fact checkers in business. Unfortunately, these same innocents never bother to check with the fact checkers, preferring to go happily on their way, spreading false information.
As a young reporter, I was told to believe half of what I see and nothing of what I hear … until I confirm the information with at least one other sourcs, and ideally with several other sources. Big cities, small towns; makes no difference; never trust a rumor and look askance on people who repeat rumors as facts.
Chicken Little.
If interested, there are several good, and interesting, rumor sites on the Internet, including:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/72892/9-false-rumors-real-life-consequences
http://hoaxes.org/archive/display/category/rumors_and_legends
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-historical-figures-famous-for-something-they-never-did
http://www.businessinsider.com/false-historical-facts-2013-11
http://www.chirovici.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Rumors-That-Changed-the-World-Preview.pdf
Copy-n-paste the URLs into a browser to read the related article.
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
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