AI-generated footage circulates in posts about Hurricane Milton

"Live updates of Hurricane Milton in Florida reaching a Category 6. This is what it possibly looks like," read a Thai-language TikTok post on October 11, 2024.

The video -- viewed more than 130,000 times -- appears to show storms whipping up destructive waves as they make landfall.

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Screenshot of the false post taken on October 16, 2024

It was shared after Hurricane Milton made landfall on the Gulf coast of Florida on October 9 (archived link).

At least 16 people were killed by the storm, which downed power lines, shredded the roof of the Tampa baseball stadium and inundated homes.

Millions were left without power for days after, and experts estimated the cost of the storm damage at $50 billion.

The compilation video was also shared alongside similar false claims on Facebook in Thai here and here, and English here.

Comments on the posts suggested some believed the clips were genuine.

"This is an entirely real incident in Florida in the US," read one comment.

Another said: "A hundred times scarier than a tsunami."

The video, however, was created by AI.

AI-content creator

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video led to the same clip shared on TikTok on October 11, 2024.

The since-deleted post, which included a "Hurricane Milton" hashtag, read: "Disclaimer: This video is AI-generated and offers a visual representation of how a Category 6 hurricane could appear."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the original video (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the original video (right)

The video was uploaded to an account called "DoodleDreams", whose profile page says they create "AI magic" (archived link).

There are several visual inconsistencies in the original video; including cars remaining stationary after being hit by strong waves; a wobbly cloud-like umbrella flying in the sky; and cars appearing bigger than the motorway they are driving on.

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Screenshots from the compilation video, with visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP

Hurricane classifications

Hurricanes are classified on a five-point scale -- the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale -- according to their maximum sustained wind speed (archived link).

Although the strength of Milton grew from Category 1 to Category 5 in a matter of hours as it rumbled east across the Gulf of Mexico, it made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 (archived link).

A Category 3 storm has maximum sustained wind speeds of between 178 and 208 kilometres per hour (111 to 129 miles per hour).

Hurricanes rated Category 3 and higher are known as major hurricanes due to their potential for "significant loss of life and damage".

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The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale from category 1 to 5 (AFP)

Despite proposals from scientists to add a higher category, the United States' National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in February that it had no plans to add a "Category 6" (archived link).

AFP has debunked other claims about Hurricane Milton here.