Rumor watch: The hoaxes and fake news debunked during Harvey

Hoax: Joel Osteen on a yacht A fake news story from the Christian satire site The Babylon Bee "reports" that Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen was sailing through the flooded streets of Houston after Hurricane Harvey on a luxury yacht titled the S.S. Blessed. The article was intended as a joke, but some readers were fooled. less Hoax: Joel Osteen on a yacht A fake news story from the Christian satire site The Babylon Bee "reports" that Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen was sailing through the flooded streets of Houston after Hurricane ... more Photo: The Babylon Bee Photo: The Babylon Bee Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Rumor watch: The hoaxes and fake news debunked during Harvey 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

Before then-Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast, rumors and hoaxes began flying around social media.

And while some, like the viral photo of the freeway shark, were harmless, others could have had more serious consequences than making a Fox News host look silly.

Stories about cities shutting down services, fake evacuations and false emergency numbers were quickly shut down by media organizations and government officials.

PHOTOS: Here is what Chron readers are seeing on the ground

Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke out about the rumor posts on Friday and encouraged residents to follow mainstream news organizations, the National Weather Service and the Office of Emergency Management for updates on the storm.

"False forecasts and irresponsible rumors on social media are interfering with efforts by the city of Houston, and its government and news media partners, to provide accurate information to the public about the expected effects of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Harvey," Turner said in a Friday statement.

"Rumors are nothing new, but the widespread use of social media has needlessly frightened many people today."

See some of the debunked rumors from Tropical Storm Harvey in the gallery above.