A Republican senator in the North Carolina legislature has issued a public plea for people to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the disaster recovery efforts in areas ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene.

In a Thursday afternoon Facebook post , state Sen. Kevin Corbin, who represents the states westernmost area, asked his followers for a favor: Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in WNC.

Corbin listed several examples: FEMA is stealing money from donations, body bags ordered but government has denied, bodies not being buried, government is controlling the weather from Antarctica, government is trying to get lithium from WNC, stacks of bodies left at hospitals, and on and on and on.

Since making landfall last week and churning inland, the storm has killed more than 200 people across six states, with more than 70 of those deaths in Asheville and western North Carolina.

The conspiracy theories and misinformation about the federal governments response to the disaster have gotten so out of control that the Federal Emergency Management Agency created an entire page on its website, Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response, aimed at countering unverified claims circulating online.

Misinformation always affects the people who are trying to help and the people who need the help, Willie Nunn, a senior FEMA official currently helping to lead the disaster response in South Carolina, told HuffPost.

It really impacts us because of the trust factor that we need, said Nunn. The biggest thing, if the misinformation is negative and not in support of the response, is that the survivors, it will discourage them to call us. If we dont know where they are, we cant meet them where they are.

North Carolina state Rep. Lindsey Prather (D), who represents part of Buncombe County, which has been devastated by Helene, told HuffPost that misinformation has affected the recovery effort. She said shes been working around the clock to communicate accurate information to constituents about resources like food distribution sites.

The biggest issue is rumors and fake memes and photos of people being trapped in areas around the county, and we send folks out to rescue them, and theres no one there to be rescued, Prather said, noting that such efforts require resources that could be used elsewhere.

She emphasized that most of the misinformation shes seen is not intentional; she said its often residents getting small windows of cell service, going on Facebook and seeing a post about people being trapped, and then sharing it widely without verifying it. People have also spread misinformation about certain parts of the county unfairly getting more resources than others, when the reality is that the disaster response is focused on getting supplies to the most highly populated and accessible areas.

Thats impacting us, too, said the state legislator. Were having to take time to respond to things like that, and explain to people how disaster response works.