Image of person thrown in storm not from Hurricane Beryl | Fact check
The claim: Image shows Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica
[En Espa?ol: Imagen de gente volando por los aires no es de huracán Beryl]
A July 4 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a powerful storm throwing a person into the air, tipping over trucks and toppling utility poles.
"Something terrible minutes ago! Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica," reads Spanish text on the image, according to Google Translate.
A similar post was shared more than 200 times in the first two days.
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Our rating: False
While Hurricane Beryl brushed Jamaica's coast on July 3, the image doesn't show the storm or its impact. The image is digital art that's been used in thumbnail images for YouTube videos dating back to at least 2023.
Image used as thumbnail art for storm videos predating Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl raked Jamaica's southern coast July 3 and left a path of destruction in the Caribbean before it made landfall July 5 on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and weakened to a tropical storm. The storm could regain hurricane strength as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico and toward southern Texas, according to a July 5 forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
But the image in the Facebook post doesn't show Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica or anywhere else. The image is a digital rendering that's been used as thumbnail art for storm videos on YouTube dating back to at least 2023.
YouTube user @wildweatherus used the image thumbnail art for a video posted on April 1, 2024, titled, "TOP 14 minutes of Natural Disasters! Most Horrific Storm in China caught on camera."
Another YouTube user, @worldview188, used the image as thumbnail art for a video posted on April 14, 2024. This example includes one difference: the addition of a helicopter in the image.
Components of the image have also been used in thumbnail images for YouTube videos dating back to 2023.
Fact check: Photo of tilted building is from 2018 Taiwan earthquake, not 2024 temblor
The Facebook user who shared the image did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim image shows Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica | Fact check