The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged storm-weary residents across the south — scores of them left without homes and hundreds of thousands more still without power — to verify and fact-check information regarding aid and relief efforts, warning the deluge of rumors and misinformation will only slow their recovery after Hurricane Helene’s deadly rampage. More than 220 deaths across six states have been linked to the monstrous storm in the days since it made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane, making the storm the deadliest to strike the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. With windspeeds topping 140 mph at times, Helene tore through the Big Bend region, ripping apart homes in addition to toppling trees and powerlines. The storm also dumped huge amounts of rain on the Sunshine State, leaving roadways flooded and buildings submerged before taking aim at Georgia. Despite weakening during its journey inland, Helene continued to wreak similar havoc across Tennessee and the Carolinas. More than a week later, southerners are still grappling with how to move forward. As of Saturday morning, more than 500,000 people — most of them in Georgia and the Carolinas — did not have electricity, according to PowerOutage.us. Others were left to contend with the loss of their homes while they cleared debris from their storm-ravaged properties. Since Helene’s arrival, FEMA has deployed more than 6,400 personnel across the south. The agency has also shipped more than 13.2 million meals, upwards of 13.4 million liters of water, more than 492,000 tarps and 157 generators to the hardest hit regions, especially the more mountainous and remote parts of North Carolina, FEMA said on Saturday. The agency has faced many obstacles in their response, chief among them the sheer scope of the damage, which spans 100 miles across multiple states. FEMA, along with local and state officials, have also been working to battle back rumors swirling in wake of the storm, one of them perpetuated by former President Donald Trump. After Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this week said FEMA would not have enough funds to make it through hurricane season, Trump quickly seized on the claim. He suggested on Friday, without evidence, that “a billion dollars was stolen from FEMA to use it for illegal migrants, many of whom are criminals, to come into our country, and FEMA is now busted.” He added: “They have no money.” Florida residents clean-up after Hurricane Helene outside a beach boutique store in the Pass-A-Grille community of St. Pete Beach, FL, on Saturday, September 28, 2024. (Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, offered up his own claim, writing in a post on X that FEMA is “actively blocking citizens who try to help.” Senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates disputed the allegations in a memo circulated to reporters on Friday. “This is FALSE,” he wrote, per ABC News. “No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All.” FEMA has also launched a web page dedicated to pushing back on what it says are rumors and misinformation about the federal government’s response. The American Red Cross earlier this week also rejected claims it was “confiscating or throwing out donated items” and “taking over” shelters and volunteer groups. It further noted that spreading misinformation “disrupts our ability to deliver critical aid and affects the disaster workers who have put their own lives on hold to assist those in need.” With News Wire Services