Houston - We Have a Fake News Problem.

Sharknado?

Uh oh - Katie Couric - is this real?

​Original Air date: September 9, 2017
Houston, We Have a Fake News Problem - Episode 11

In this episode Beth and Elizabeth dive in the hurricane of fake news that follows all natural disasters. Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, according to a run down by the The Weather Channel:

• Harvey was a catastrophic flood disaster in southeast Texas.
  

• Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Hurricane with winds of 130 mph near Rockport, Texas.
• Harvey meandered around southern Texas for days as a weakening hurricane and tropical storm.
• As a tropical storm, Harvey dropped 40-52 inches of rainfall in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.
• All-time continental U.S. tropical cyclone rain records were broken.
• Harvey triggered flash flooding in parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee from Aug. 31-Sept. 1.​

That's the real news.  Now onto the fake.

We start with a rundown of some of the fake photos floating around.  Snopes has a great article that combines all the big hitters.  (Shark and Alligator photo are pictured above)
http://www.snopes.com/fake-photographs-hurricane-harvey-edition/​

All the photos pictured are fake or from a different storm/area/time.

Next we check out this photo, with help from Snopes article:
http://www.snopes.com/trump-raft-harvey/

Do you see the MAGA hat?  

We also review a meme about how many churches in Houston were open.
http://www.snopes.com/only-60-of-1566-churches-in-houston-opened-to-help-hurricane-harvey-victims/

​I don't want to spoil the surprise, but this meme is fake.  It's from a satire site that needs to work on being funny.

---

Next up is a meme about August 29th.   Ohhhhh.  Scary...ily inaccurate.

You can find this gem through:
http://www.snopes.com/29-august-hurricanes/

WE ARE NOT DONE.  Just like the rain, the fake news didn't stop there.  The news of upcoming storms also took a fake turn with fake weather forecasts.

We review two stories warning the public about pictures of fake weather forecasts making the rounds on Twitter.  
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/hurricane-irmas-pathway-beware-of-fake-weather-forecasts/amp/
http://thehill.com/media/348873-national-weather-service-warns-against-fake-forecasts

Fake weather forecasts really made us mad.  Like Hurricane mad.  Good thing our mood doesn't control the weather.   Apparently, it's the government....
​The article: Engineered Climate Cataclysm: Hurricane Harvey
Outcome: Conspiracy Theory 
Link: http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/engineered-climate-cataclysm-hurricane-harvey/
Resources used: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_engineering
Additional resources used:
Good old fashioned common sense.  Tin foil hat recommended.

​This episode was dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth's former teacher Reuben Jordan, who passed away while trying to help rescue people from high water during Hurricane Harvey.  Mr. Jordan died a true hero, and was always a hero to students like Elizabeth.
​http://abc13.com/clear-creek-isd-mourning-beloved-high-school-coach/2356228/

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