Video compilation misrepresented as scenes from Hurricane Milton
- Published on October 11, 2024 at 22:43
- 9 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"The Sky in Florida Before Hurricane Milton Makes Landfall," says text over an October 8, 2024 TikTok post that raked up more than 90 million views.
Similar posts spread the compilation across TikTok and other platforms such as X -- including in Spanish.
The posts circulated as Floridians still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier braced for Milton's arrival -- and it continued to spread after the storm barreled through the state.
The hurricane made landfall October 9 as a powerful Category 3 storm, triggering a spate of tornadoes and leaving at least 16 people dead. Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses were still without power two days later.
But the ominous weather scenes featured in the viral video compilation are not from Hurricane Milton.
Reverse image searches revealed that six of the seven clips predate the hurricane's arrival in Florida. Each has been flipped horizontally in the montage.
AFP could not determine the origin of the final clip, which shows lightning over an oil rig -- though drilling in Florida is sparse.
Florida in 2021
The first video in the sequence traces to a June 2021 TikTok post that says it was filmed in Florida (archived here). The caption includes the hashtag "#shelfcloud," referring to a type of low-hanging cloud that often forms the leading edge of a thunderstorm.
@chloeandcalliegoldenlife Florida #chloeandcalliesgoldenlife#naturetiktok#shelfcloud♬ Can We Kiss Forever? - Kina
Ohio in 2022
The second shot dates to at least June 2022, when it appeared in a Reddit post (archived here). Media outlets that reported on the footage at the time said that it was believed to show Cincinnati, Ohio (archived here and here).
AFP previously reported that the video depicted clouds ahead of a meteorological phenomenon known as a derecho, which according to the National Weather Service is a wind storm associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.
I was under the impression it was a tsunami I’ve never seen clouds like this before.
by u/fooman141 in Damnthatsinteresting
Florida in February 2024
The montage's third clip shows another cloud formation in Jacksonville, Florida in February 2024, according to a YouTube video from the local TV affiliate First Coast News that shared the footage in its original context (archived here).
Florida before Hurricane Helene
The fourth video is found on the website of Fox 51 WOGX, a local TV station in Gainesville, Florida (archived here). The outlet said it showed a "shelf cloud in Cedar Key, Florida as an outer rainband from Hurricane Helene began to cross the state." Helene made landfall September 27, 2024.
Texas in 2023
The fifth clip in the collection dates to at least October 2023, when a TikTok account dedicated to "chasing down the wildest weather" posted it (archived here).
A location tag on the post places the footage in Lipscomb County, Texas. The caption adds: "Towering, monstrous supercell with a sculpted updraft in a classic June in the Panhandle storm chase."
@tornadotitans Towering, monstrous supercell with a sculpted updraft in a classic June in the Panhandle storm chase. This storm was a highly deviant right mover, and it was making the most of a very meager environment otherwise. We are going to be talking about deviant motions and more on our channel soon! #weather#nature#supercell#lightning#storm#thunderstorm♬ original sound - Tornado Titans
India in July 2024
The footage in the compilation's sixth clip was posted to YouTube days before Hurricane Milton hit Florida (archived here).
Still photos that appear to show the same road, cars and clouds were posted on Instagram and Facebook even earlier, however (archived here and here). Accounts sharing weather updates in India posted them in July 2024, with captions indicating it showed heavy rains in Punjab state.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about hurricanes -- including similar compilations falsely linked to Hurricane Milton -- here.
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