A Facebook (FB) user falsely passed off old clips of structures crumbling down and being swept away by flood as taken during Super Typhoon Mawar’s onslaught.
On May 25, a netizen uploaded the false FB Reel with the caption “#thyphoonmawar (sic).” The video carried four clips supposedly showing the damages caused by the typhoon, which devastated Guam before it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) last week.
Several netizens believed the post to be true and shared the compilation video.
The post is false. None of the clips were taken recently, nor were they in Guam.
Flooding in Pakistan
The first clip showing the collapse of a green multi-story building was uploaded by TikTok user @____umerfarooqazaad on Aug. 26, 2022.
The original post bore the caption “flood pattan city 2022.” Pattan is located in the Lower Kohistan district of Pakistan.
On Aug. 25, 2022, the Pakistan government declared the flooding caused by unprecedented monsoon rains a national emergency. It was reported the same day that at least 11 people had been swept away by the Lower Kohistan flash floods.
Typhoon Lekima in China
Three other clips show Typhoon Lekima’s devastation in East China in 2019. These could be traced to a compilation video uploaded on Aug. 11, 2019 in Newsflare, a platform for user-generated videos.
The same footage has been used in reports by the BBC and Chinese national broadcaster CCTV. It showed the collapse of several structures including a pavilion in Weifang City as well as a small tower and a building.
The misleading FB Reel was uploaded a day after Super Typhoon Mawar battered Guam, leaving some areas without power and running water. No major injuries or casualties were reported.
Mawar, locally known as Super Typhoon Betty, is currently decelerating and expected to exit the PAR late Thursday or Friday morning.
VERA Files Fact Check has also debunked a viral video supposedly showing a tornado as Mawar wreaked havoc in the United States territory. (Read Video of ‘tornado’ during Mawar’s onslaught ALTERED, NOT in Guam)
The FB reel posted by a netizen has 18,000 views as of writing and was shared at least 205 times.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
