Old flooding clips misrepresented as deadly storm hits Philippines
"Storm Crising. The first floors of these houses are already flooded," reads its Tagalog-language caption, using the local name for Tropical Storm Wipha which skirted the country on the same day.
A second clip, which similarly shows muddy water lapping at the roofs of houses, was shared more than 51,000 times after it was posted on Facebook on July 22.
"Pray for Philippines, 4 Days straight Rain," reads its caption.
At least six people died and another six were missing after Wipha swept past the country on July 18, according to the Southeast Asian nation's disaster agency, with a fresh storm brewing off the coast expected to bring continued heavy rain (archived link).
Image
Screenshots of the misleading Facebook posts captured on July 22 and July 23, with X marks added by AFP
The clips were also shared in similar Facebook posts where they were passed off as recent.
The videos, however, depict flooding that occurred during deadly storms that struck the archipelago in 2024.
Typhoon Gaemi
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the first misleadingly shared clip led to a nearly identical video shared on July 24, 2024 on the Facebook page of Philippine radio station SMNI DZRD 981 (archived link).
"WATCH: Floodwaters reaching the roof of houses along Barangay Lambakin, Marilao, Bulacan," reads part of its Tagalog-language caption.
The false posts used a mirrored version of the July 2024 video.
Image
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the July 2024 video (right), with the date highlighted by AFP
The radio station credited the video to Karen Alvarez, who told AFP she filmed the video in July 2024.
"I am the owner of the video. This was one year ago from Typhoon Carina," she said on July 22, using the local name for Typhoon Gaemi. "The (circulating posts) are only reuploading my video."
The state-run Philippine News Agency, which also shared a screenshot from Alvarez's video, reported that more than 52 villages in Bulacan -- a province north of the capital Manila -- were inundated with floodwaters due to Gaemi (archived link).
The typhoon triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 40 people in the Philippines, before making landfall in Taiwan and China (archived link).
While the original footage is no longer active on Alvarez's Facebook page, similar clips she took show the same neighbourhood devastated by the typhoon (archived here and here).
Image
Screenshots of clips posted on Facebook by Karen Alvarez on July 24, 2024
Tropical Storm Trami
A separate reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the second misleadingly shared clip found it was also posted by video licensing agency Newsflare in late October 2024 (archived link).
Its description says it was captured in Camarines Sur province in the southeastern part of Luzon island during Tropical Storm Trami.
Philippine media outlet GMA News also shared the same footage of the storm, which killed at least 150 people and forced nearly half a million to flee their homes as it brought heavy rains that triggered widespread flooding and landslides (archived here and here).
Image
Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and footage from Newsflare
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 major storms a year and scientists have warned that typhoons are becoming stronger due to human-induced climate change (archived link).
AFP has repeatedly fact-checked misrepresented visuals that circulate when disasters strike.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
18 hours ago
- Local France
French fire forces evacuation of tourists near southern beaches
Driven by strong winds, the fire in the Aude department on the Mediterranean coast, near the Spanish border, had already burned through 600 hectares (1,500 acres) after breaking out earlier in the afternoon, local officials said. READ ALSO: MAP: How to check for wildfire alerts in France Some 630 firefighters backed by about a dozen planes were battling the fire, according to the department's deputy prefect Remi Recio. Smoke from the fire was causing backups on the A9 coastal highway, AFP reporters said, though the key route to Spain remained open. Flames destroyed two houses and local officials converted a local gymnasium into a shelter, although the residents of about 10 evacuated houses were later allowed to return home. READ ALSO: 1,500 firefighters tackle wildfires in south and west of France As a precautionary measure, the prefecture later ordered the evacuation of two campsites and a housing estate in the commune of Port-la-Nouvelle on the coast. Three fire fighters were treated for smoke inhalation. Advertisement The national weather service had placed the Aude department on orange alert for a "high risk" of fire on Saturday. The fire comes less than a month after the Aude department was hit by a major blaze that swept through 2,100 hectares near Narbonne, mobilising 1,000 firefighters.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Boats bring Philippine flood victims to safety as death toll rises
Schools remained closed and electricity was down in swathes of the archipelago nation's largest island as the national disaster agency reported 25 dead and eight missing since last Friday. But those numbers did not account for three construction workers buried in a landslide as they rested Thursday in Cavite province, south of the capital Manila, according to rescuers. A wall above their construction site collapsed onto the men below after days of rain softened the soil under it, said rescue team member Rosario Jose. "All the bodies were found in the mud," she said. A lone survivor was pulled from the rubble. In the west coast province of La Union, where Typhoon Co-May arrived in the early hours, a family of four was rescued Friday morning after being trapped on the second floor of their wooden home. "They couldn't leave their house because the flood was waist-deep and they have children," said a rescue official who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media. "Many had been calling us since early morning, but we were having challenges in responding because the rain and winds were so strong," they said, adding that a break in the downpour meant rescue operations were now in full stride. In Bulacan province, just north of Manila, AFP journalists saw entire villages half submerged in floodwaters. Lauro Sabino, 54, said he and his wife had evacuated their home in the morning after a frightening night of hard winds. "It was as if my roof was being blown off. It was creaking. The rain poured the entire night," he said, adding they would sleep at a local market until flooding subsided. "The same thing happens every time. There's no solution," agreed Mary Rose Navia, 25, a housewife whose husband was unable to go to work on Friday. "The floodwaters are just getting deeper." President Ferdinand Marcos on Thursday explicitly tied the recent flooding to climate change, saying his country had to accept this was the "new normal". "This is the way it's going to be as far as we know for... many decades to come, so let's just prepare," he said in a televised cabinet briefing. The storm, which was weakening as it made its way north by northeast, was expected to be gone from the Philippines by Saturday morning. © 2025 AFP
France 24
4 days ago
- France 24
Philippines shuts schools, scraps flights as Typhoon Co-May nears
Typhoon Co-May, upgraded from a tropical storm overnight, follows days of monsoon rains that have killed at least 12 people and left another eight missing across the archipelago since July 18, according to the national disaster agency. With maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour, the typhoon was expected to make landfall on the west coast in either La Union or Ilocos Sur province by Friday morning, the country's weather service said. Around 70 domestic and international flights have been cancelled due to the storms, the civil aviation authority said. The government has announced the suspension of classes across Luzon for Thursday. Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters that swamped some neighbourhoods in waist-deep water and left residents of nearby provinces stranded and in need of rescue by boat. As of Thursday, at least several thousand people in Manila remained unable to return to their homes. "We cannot send them home yet because it is still raining and some typhoons are still expected to affect the country," Ria Mei Pangilinan, a rescue coordinator in the capital, told AFP. "There might be more (evacuees) if the rain does not stop." Typhoon Co-May was about 210 kilometres off the country's west coast as of 11 am (0300 GMT). Tropical Storm Francisco, meanwhile, was situated about 735 kilometres from the country's east coast and on a trajectory towards northern Taiwan.
