Amid the landfall of Hurricane Milton in Florida, USA, on 10 October 2024, several videos (here, here, here, here & here) were widely shared on social media, claiming to show the devastation caused by the hurricane. Let’s verify each of these visuals.
Clip 1:
The clip shows a tornado behind a building, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to the original video, uploaded on the Shutterstock website on 14 December 2017 as stock footage. This video had been altered using CGI to make it appear like a tornado was forming behind the building. FACTLY had previously debunked (here & here) the same video when it was falsely linked to floods in Libya and China.
Clip 2:
This clip shows the roof of a building being blown off due to strong winds.
A reverse image search of the viral clip led us to a media report (here & here) from 2023, which states that the incident occurred in October 2023 in Sumaré, Brazil, where heavy winds caused the roof to fly off.
Clip 3:
This clip shows a large sea wave crashing onto the roof of a red-coloured house.
We found that the original video (here & here) was uploaded in December 2023, showing the destruction caused by a storm in the town of Gagra, located in the Abkhazia region.
Clip 4:
This clip shows the formation of a huge tornado over the city.
We found that the video dates to September 2024, when a TikTok user (@disastervibes7) posted similar videos of tornadoes and storms. Upon closer inspection, we noticed inconsistencies in the videos, such as reversed vehicle movements, misshaped homes and vehicles, and joined windows, suggesting that these videos are likely AI-generated or manipulated. Nevertheless, the viral video predates the formation of Hurricane Milton and is unrelated to it.
Clip 5:
This clip shows floodwaters forcefully entering the building and washing away the furniture.
A reverse image search of the viral footage led us to the original video, uploaded on the YouTube channel of FOX Weather on 24 January 2024. According to media reports, in January 2024, massive waves caused significant flooding at a remote U.S. Army base in the Marshall Islands.
Clip 6:
This clip shows a house’s roof being torn apart by strong winds.
The video dates to 16 July 2024 and captures the devastation caused by a storm in Des Moines, United States.
To sum up, old and unrelated old visuals are linked to Hurricane Milton.
