Footage of stranded Mexican 'grandparents' misused in posts about Philippines typhoon
- Published on November 7, 2025 at 07:41
- Updated on November 7, 2025 at 08:20
- 3 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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Typhoon Kalmaegi flooded swathes of the central Philippines in early November, sweeping away cars and riverside shanties, and tearing roofs off buildings, but images circulating on social media of an elderly couple waiting to be rescued from muddy floodwaters were not taken in the archipelago. The images were taken from video filmed in Mexico in October, after torrential rains triggered devastating floods in several states across the country.
"Captured while floodwaters were raging during the onslaught of the typhoon in Cebu," reads part of the Tagalog-language caption of Facebook images shared on November 5, 2025, referring to a province in central Philippines.
The images show an elderly man and woman clinging to each other on top of a building, as massive floods turned the streets around them into rivers.
"You will be deeply moved by a grandfather and grandmother who held on to each other in the midst of the storm and danger. Proof that nothing can separate true love. We salute you. We hope they're safe," the caption adds.
The images circulated as Typhoon Kalmaegi unleashed devastating floods across the central Philippines after making landfall on November 3, killing at least 188 people and leaving another 135 missing (archived link).
The typhoon is the world's deadliest of 2025 so far, according to disaster database EM-DAT.
The image of the elderly couple was also widely shared on TikTok and elsewhere in Facebook posts with unrelated links to e-commerce sites.
But a reverse image search on Google found that the images were taken from a video posted on TikTok on October 11 (archived link).
Viewed over a million times, the video has overlaid text that says, "Poza Rica De Hidalgo Veracruz, 10/10/2025" -- referring to a city and state in eastern Mexico.
This clip was also shared by AFP on October 16, alongside a report with the headline "Viral Mexican 'grandparents' recount flood horror" (archived here and here).
The article identified the couple as Hilario Reynosa and Elodia Reyes, who barely made it out alive from the floods that ravaged eastern and central Mexico.
"The strong current came and took her away. I dove in to look for her but couldn't find her," Reynosa recounted of the ordeal. His wife cannot swim.
"A taxi driver said: 'look, your old lady is coming up there.' I told her: 'don't move from there, I'm jumping in right now.' ... I swam out that way."
He told his wife to grab onto his neck, and swam with her back to the house. They climbed onto the roof where they stayed until dawn, the water lapping at their waists, until a neighbour in a rowboat finally reached them.
Other media outlets also shared the video of Reynosa and Reyes, including the BBC, and US news outlets ABC and CBS (archived here, here and here).
The footage corresponds to Google Street View imagery of the couples' neighbourhood in Poza Rica (archived link).
AFP, quoting a neighbour who assisted the couple after the flooding, reported that Reyes passed away on October 27 (archived link).
AFP has debunked several claims about floods and other natural disasters around the world.
This article was updated to correct grammar in the opening paragraph.November 7, 2025 This article was updated to correct grammar in the opening paragraph.
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