Old typhoon photos circulate in posts about Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines
- Published on October 29, 2024 at 08:10
- 4 min read
- By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines
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The circulating images -- showing devastated landscapes littered with debris -- were shared in posts about the hardest-hit region of Bicol.
"LOOK: Here's what Bicol looks like now after being hit by Typhoon Kristine," read a Tagalog-language caption alongside the images in a Facebook post on October 24, 2024, using the Philippines' name for Trami.
"It resembles the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda in Leyte in 2013," the post added, referring to the Philippines' name for Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the deadliest storms ever recorded (archived link).
The claim spread after Trami battered the main island of Luzon, forcing nearly half a million people to flee their homes as heavy rains caused widespread flooding and landslides.
As of October 29, the storm had killed at least 125 people, according to the government's disaster agency (archived link).
Storms and typhoons are common around the region at this time of year. However, a recent study showed that they are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
The photos -- which all predate Trami -- were also shared on Facebook alongside a similar false claim here and here, racking up more than 1,300 shares.
Past typhoons
Reverse image searches on Google traced the first photo to an article about Typhoon Haiyan published by the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau on its website on January 19, 2019 (archived link).
Credited to DPA or the German Press Agency, it said the scene showed the city of Tacloban in the Philippines after the typhoon.
Tacloban, the capital of central Philippines' Leyte province, bore the brunt of Haiyan, which unleashed winds of up to 315 kilometres (195 miles) an hour and whipped up five-metre-high storm surges that crashed over mostly poor coastal communities, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the photo published by Frankfurter Rundschau (right):
A similar photo was also published in November 2013 by Reuters news agency (archived link).
Credited to photographer Erik De Castro, the caption read: "Survivors stand among debris and ruins of houses destroyed after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 10, 2013."
Another photo by De Castro was included in the posts (archived link).
Its original caption in the Reuters archives read: "Residents walk on a road littered with debris after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 10, 2013."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the Reuters photo (right):
Reverse image searches found the last image in the false posts corresponds to a photo taken by photographer Ninfa Z. Bito (archived links here and here).
The image, showing an overturned jeepney with Mayon Volcano in the background, is the fourth to appear in a slideshow titled: "Typhoon 'Reming' 2006."
"Reming" was the Philippines' name for Super Typhoon Durian, which slammed into the Bicol Peninsula in November 2006 (archived link).
The powerful storm brought heavy rains and strong winds that triggered avalanches of volcanic debris from the slopes of Mayon, burying entire villages and leaving over 1,300 people dead or missing.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the images in the false post (left) and on Ninfa Z. Bito's website (right):
The scene in Bito's photo corresponds to a similar image published by the European Pressphoto Agency about Super Typhoon Durian (archived link).
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