Without actually using the words "fake news", Rush Limbaugh yesterday suggested that the forecasts for Hurricane Irma are just that - hype and exaggeration, cooked up by a conspiracy between the media and retailers to panic people into buying emergency supplies. He claimed that he understands hurricanes in south FL better than the professionals do and questioned the potential storm track, saying he had his own method of predicting the storm track that was more accurate - but wouldn't reveal it because he didn't want to seem to be making a weather forecast. Right; and after the storm passes, we'll find out that his secret method accurately predicted the path.
He also said the storms are never as bad as forecasted (tell that to people in Houston, New Orleans, and NY/NJ/CT - sometimes they're worse than forecasted), suggesting that the hype is intended to put more money in the pockets of retailers and the media outlets who sell their ads; in in some convoluted way, tying it all into the politicization of the media and the right-wing fairy tale of the "deep state".
I'm not sure why this chucklehead is still relevant anymore, but he still has followers and the danger is that people will listen to his nonsense, decide "maybe we're overreacting", and as a result will be less prepared for the storm than they normally would be.
The fact is that this thing is a monster - it's the 2nd biggest storm recorded, the biggest formed in the Atlantic, and the first to have sustained winds of 185 mph for more than 24 hours. Limbaugh's dismissal of the dangers does a real disservice to public safety. I sincerely hope that no one in the potential storm path pays any attention to what he says. Better to be prepared and have the emergency supplies if you need them than to need them and not have them at all.
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