Posts misrepresent old storm footage from the Philippines as Super Typhoon Kong-rey
- Published on October 31, 2024 at 09:23
- 3 min read
- By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines
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"PRAY FOR BATANES. Super Typhoon Leon Signal 4," read part of the caption alongside the video on Facebook on October 30, 2024, which used the local name for Kong-rey.
The 23-second clip -- viewed more than 200,000 times -- shows fierce winds battering trees and houses.
The post surfaced as the Philippine state weather bureau warned of "violent conditions" in the Batanes islands north of the main island Luzon as Kong-rey passed close by on its way to Taiwan (archived link).
More than 174,000 people fled their homes in the Philippines due to the typhoon, which came just days after another storm killed at least 145 people, AFP reported (archived link).
Kong-rey was packing wind gusts of nearly 260 kilometres per hour (161 miles per hour), according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (archived link).
Other social media users shared the clip alongside similar false claims on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, garnering more than five million views.
However, the clip emerged online more than four weeks before Kong-rey.
Typhoon Krathon
A reverse image search on Google using a keyframe from the clip, followed by keyword searches, found a high-quality version of the video was posted on Facebook on September 30, 2024 (archived link).
"Very strong! Typhoon Julian in Batanes," read the video's caption, using the Philippine name for Typhoon Krathon.
The storm slammed into the remote group of Philippine islands in late September, leaving eight injured and one missing (archived link).
It also cut power and communications and damaged many houses, AFP reported (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the circulating footage (left) and the earlier Facebook video of Krathon (right):
The Facebook user, who identified herself as Jona Libaton, told AFP the circulating video "was from Typhoon Julian (Krathon)".
She also shared pictures on Facebook showing the aftermath of Krathon on October 1 (archived link).
A review of her Facebook page found she frequently posted about Batanes and indicated she worked for a homestay there.
Philippine broadcaster GMA Public Affairs reshared the footage on its verified TikTok and Facebook pages (archived links here and here).
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens of people.
A recent study showed that they are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
Misinformation often circulates after natural disasters, as AFP has debunked here, here and here.
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