A video uploaded on Facebook (FB) claimed to show scenes from Typhoon Egay’s (international name: Doksuri) onslaught in China. Not true. The video is a compilation of old clips that were taken in other countries.
Posted by a netizen on July 30, the one-minute and three-second-video containing six clips bore the caption:
“Grabe Pala Yung bagyong egay sa china (Typhoon Egay in China is severe).”
This is false. The clips in the video are old, showing devastation of earlier disasters in Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Typhoon Egay that recently brought heavy rainfall in northern China did not hit those countries in the video.
A TikTok user first uploaded the video compilation on TikTok without indicating where they were taken. Tracked down by VERA Files Fact Check through reverse image search, the clips are actually mirrored versions of earlier and original copies.
The first clip showing cars on a street as strong winds blow has been uploaded online as early as Feb. 19, months before Typhoon Egay hit China.
A video of strong winds dislodging an apartment’s roof in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey was also featured. News outlets published the original video on June 2, 2022.
The third clip also shows high sea waves going beyond a sea wall as a car passes in Sicily, Italy during a storm. Sicily’s meteorological center and other news organizations uploaded the video on Feb. 9, 2022.
Fourth in the compilation is a clip of cars swept by flood due to heavy rains in São Carlos, Brazil. This was posted by São Carlos Agora on Dec. 28, 2022.
The fifth video shows flooding in Pakistan in 2022. AJ Plus, a digital news outlet, included the same clip in their video on the 2022 flooding.
The video ended with a clip of flood dragging cars in Mecca, Saudi Arabia shared by news organizations on Dec. 23, 2022.
The video with the erroneous caption was uploaded days after Typhoon Egay devastated the Philippines before hammering China’s Fujian province. It is the most powerful typhoon to hit China so far this year..
The netizen’s video has 7,100 reactions, 137 comments, 3,200 shares and 492,000 views as of writing.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
