This viral video does not show visuals of the 2025 Assam floods; it has been online since at least 2023
Heavy monsoon rains triggered severe floods across Assam recently, affecting over 6.7 lakh people in 21 districts. Rivers like the Brahmaputra and Barak overflowed, causing widespread damage to homes, roads, and crops. Rescue and relief operations are ongoing as the state battles this major crisis (here, here, and here).
In this context, a video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) shows some shops being swept away by floodwaters. The video is being shared with the claim that it depicts the recent May–June 2025 floods in Assam. Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.
Claim: The video shows shops being swept away by floodwaters during the recent May–June 2025 floods in Assam.
Fact: The viral video is not related to the recent floods in Assam. It was first posted in July 2023 and has been on the internet since at least that time, well before the May–June 2025 Assam floods. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the claim, we performed a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, which led us to the same video posted in September 2024 by an Instagram user, “the_phone_reviver,” with a caption stating it shows the Sainj Valley flood of 9 July 2023. Sainj Valley is located in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The Instagram account is managed by Surender Chauhan, a resident of Sainj. He posted similar videos of the same location on his Instagram account on 9 July 2023 and later uploaded the viral video to his YouTube channel in September 2024. This evidence confirms that the viral video predates the Assam floods by nearly two years and does not depict the recent May–June 2025 floods in Assam.
We contacted Surender using the phone number on his Facebook profile. He confirmed that the video is from Sainj Valley and dates back to July 2023, when severe floods struck the valley and other areas of Himachal Pradesh. Surender added that the shops shown in the video were swept away, and nothing remains at the location now.
According to reports (here, here, here, and here), flash floods in Sainj Valley, Himachal Pradesh, in July 2023 caused major damage, including the destruction of around 200 shops. The disaster was linked to heavy rainfall and a sudden water release from NHPC’s Parbati III dam. Locals blamed the dam discharge and construction debris for worsening the floods. NHPC faced criticism for not issuing timely warnings. The Himachal Pradesh government launched relief efforts and conducted an aerial survey to assess the damage.
However, we could not independently verify the exact location or the time the video was shot. But based on the available evidence, it is clear that the viral video predates the Assam floods of May–June 2025 and has been on the internet since at least 2023.
To sum up, this viral video does not show visuals of the 2025 Assam floods; it has been online since at least 2023.