Influencers face backlash for 'tragedy tourism' during Hurricane Melissa

Many TikTok and Instagram videos are sparking backlash as influencers traveled to Jamaica amid Hurricane Melissa.

One TikToker with over 150,000 followers posted a video showing herself traveling to Jamaica during the historic Category 5 storm.

"Hurricane Melissa out here messing with my vacation," said the text on the video.

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Another video showed two frozen cocktails with the caption, "Pretending there's not a category 5 hurricane hitting Jamaica."

The videos now appear to have been deleted.

Another traveler with 680,000 followers was seen posting videos in "hurricane fit check" videos, receiving thousands of reactions.

Hundreds of other TikTokers took to the comments section to voice their opinions about the sensitivity of the videos.

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"This generation is so unserious," said one user.

Another user wrote, "You have no idea what you are about to go through. Be safe."

"You are entirely surrounded by windows that are not boarded up. Why is that," cautioned a user.

A TikToker wrote, "This is so out of touch."

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"Terrible hurricane outfit if you're gonna be navigating broken glass and nails and flying debris," commented one user. "You have no idea what you're up against."

Another person wrote, "I'm so glad you guys are in good spirits and staying positive."

Steamboat Institute fellow and social media critic Brad Polumbo told Fox News Digital that this is an example of "tragedy tourism."

"The rise in tragedy tourism where wanna-be influencers exploit catastrophes for content is just despicable," he said. "It takes attention and resources away from actual victims, and it monetizes human trauma. It's symbolic of everything that's gone wrong with an attention-at-any-cost culture on social media."

He said young people who engage in tragedy tourism may not realize they're profiting from suffering, as "ragebait and influencer culture" have become normalized on social media.

Polumbo said this trend is part of Gen Z and social media culture's "broader fixation with attention as currency."

"Young people are incentivized to do anything for attention, no matter how insensitive, obnoxious or even unsafe it is," he said. "There are many examples of content creators literally dying during stunts they pulled for 'content.'"

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"Intentionally flying into a hurricane's path is just another example of this self-destruction trend," Polumbo added.

The scope of the disaster in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa is just starting to come into focus a week after the record-setting storm made landfall, Fox Weather reported.

Officials in Jamaica said Monday that at least 32 people have been killed by Melissa and another eight unconfirmed deaths are being investigated, the same source noted. 

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Flooding from the storm has left at least 31 people dead in nearby Haiti, according to the country's Civil Protection Department, Fox Weather also reported. 

It was the most powerful storm to directly hit Jamaica - and the first major hurricane to do so since 1988, according to Reuters.