Tornado footage misrepresented as damage from Tropical Storm Hilary
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 22, 2023 at 16:50
- 5 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"OMG A TORNADO IS FORMING," says text over one August 21, 2023 video, which shows a tornado whirling around an apartment complex.
The caption adds: "she kinda cute tho #hurricanehillary #hurricane."
The video quickly racked up more than 825,000 views as Southern California deals with life-threatening floods and other fallout from Tropical Storm Hilary, which at its peak registered as a Category 4 hurricane before crossing into the United States on August 20.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the storm, which has and has shattered multiple daily rainfall records in the Los Angeles region, is an "unprecedented weather event."
Tropical storms have the potential to spawn tornadoes, and Hilary prompted a tornado warning in parts of San Diego County, per the National Weather Service.
But the clip circulating online -- along with others shared by the same account -- is unrelated to the storm.
A reverse image search revealed the footage was captured during a tornado that hit Greenwood, Indiana on June 25, 2023.
Originally posted to Twitter -- which is rebranding as "X" -- by a user who identified the location (archived here), the footage was broadcast on Fox Weather's website and TikTok channel (archived here and here).
@foxweather ️ Terrifying video shows a tornado ripping through Greenwood, IN on June 25. #tornado#greenwood#severe#severeweather#greenwoodindiana#indiana#inwx♬ Breaking News Background Music (Basic A)(1001538) - LEOPARD
AFP geolocated the video to an apartment complex in Greenwood, matching the building units, body of water and surrounding greenery in the clip to those seen via Google Earth and in aerial footage the rental company posted on YouTube (archived here and here).
According to the National Weather Service (archived here), the tornado brought peak winds of 115 miles per hour and killed one person.
Other misrepresented videos
The same account shared another video showing the view from a porch as intense winds send debris flying overhead.
The post, which has drawn more than 11 million views, says in its caption that it depicts "#hurricanehillary."
But the footage predates the tropical storm by more than a year -- and it was filmed on the other side of the United States.
Reverse image and keyword searches revealed the footage was captured as an April 5, 2022 storm blew through Ellabell, Georgia.
A member of Black Creek Golf Club took the video from the club, according to local news reports that featured the recording (archived here and here).
The tornado reached maximum winds of 185 miles per hour and killed one person, the National Weather Service said (archived here).
A third video shared by the account shows winds blowing debris past a red truck and shed.
"HILLARY PLEASE QUEEN LEAVE ME ALONE," says the text over one iteration of the video watched over 4.4 million times.
But the footage has also been misrepresented. A resident of Dortches, North Carolina filmed and posted the video to Facebook on July 19, 2023 (archived here). Local news outlets republished it.
The National Weather Service said the storm's winds clocked in at 150 miles per hour (archived here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about extreme weather events, such as the wildfires that decimated Hawaii, here.
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