Photo shows Philippine city flattened by powerful storm, not 'Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi'

The photo was shared in a Burmese-language Facebook post on September 6, 2024, where it was falsely described as showing "damage in Vietnam after the storm".

The post read: "Storm Yagi has stronger winds than expected. The Thai side is constantly warning that the current gusts are around 240 to 250 miles per hour, where it was estimated at 90 to 120 miles per hour before entering."

"For Myanmar, it is predicted to be only the tip of the storm, but there may be changes, so keep an eye on the news," it added.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on September 12, 2024

The photo surfaced as Typhoon Yagi tore across Vietnam's densely populated Red River delta -- a vital agricultural region also home to major manufacturing hubs -- damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland (archived link). Authorities said it killed at least 292 people in the country.

The storm also triggered the worst flooding in Myanmar's recent history according to the UN's World Food Programme, with the country's ruling junta reporting 226 fatalities (archived link).

The photo was shared alongside similar false claims on Facebook here, here and here.

A reverse image search on Google, however, found it was published by The Associated Press (AP) news agency on November 10, 2013 (archived link).

The photo's caption read in part: "A woman walks past damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain of shortage of food, water and no electricity since the Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture used in the false posts (left) and the AP photo (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the picture used in the false posts (left) and the AP photo (right)

Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, whipped up tsunami-like waves that devastated central islands in the Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 6,000 people (archived link).

Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province, bore the brunt of the storm's fury and was almost totally destroyed by five-metre-high storm surges that crashed over mostly poor coastal communities.

The AP photo was also published in other reports about Haiyan here and here (archived link here and here). 

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to Typhoon Yagi here.