Brazil flood video falsely shared as 'inundated city in northern Myanmar'

Published on July 12, 2024 at 10:22
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

As heavy rain caused severe flooding and trapped thousands of residents in Myanmar's Kachin state, social media users shared an aerial video of submerged buildings alongside a false claim it shows the flooded city of Myitkyina. However, the footage was filmed in Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, two months before floods hit northern Myanmar.

"Myitkyina flood seen from above," read a Burmese-language Facebook post published on July 2, 2024. It has been shared more than 4,600 times.

Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin state in northern Myanmar where flooding caused by days of heavy rain trapped thousands of residents in their inundated homes.

The Southeast Asian country typically faces months of heavy downpours in the rainy season.

Scientists warn the world faces more extreme weather scenarios from climate change triggered by human activities.

The video in the Facebook post shows an aerial view of a city largely submerged by water.

Screenshot taken on July 8, 2024 of the misleading post

The same video was shared with a similar false claim about flooding in Myanmar on Facebook here and here.

The footage shows flooding in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

Brazil floods

A keyword search using the watermark from the video found the same footage published here on May 6, 2024 by a TikTok user called Uesley Moreira (archived link).

The TikTok video's Portuguese caption translates to English as, "third day of missions in porto alegre #ajudeors #riograndedosul."

Porto Alegre is the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state.

At least 170 people have died and more than 600,000 have been displaced by severe flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, which experts attribute to climate change exacerbated by El Nino (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video published in the false post (left) and the original TikTok video (right):

Screenshot comparison of the frame video from the false post (left) and the TikTok video (right)

Moreira told AFP that he filmed the video on May 6, 2024 when he traveled to Porto Alegre during the floods.

"I travelled to Rio Grande do Sul, which is where the video was recorded sometime in May 2024."

Using visual clues and information from the TikTok video's captions, AFP geolocated the clip to Porto Alegre on Google Maps.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video at its 35-second mark (left) and the satellite image of the area in Porto Alegre (right) with similarities highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparison of the video (left) and the satellite image of the area in Porto Alegre with similarities highlighted by AFP (right)

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Brazil flood video falsely shared as 'inundated city in northern Myanmar'

Brazil floods

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