Unrelated storm footage falsely linked to Hurricane Helene | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Hurricane Helene hitting Florida
A Sept. 25 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows an array of videos of storm and hurricane footage.
"Hurricane Helene in Florida, USA," reads text within the video.
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Our rating: False
The video is miscaptioned. The clips show unrelated storms in different locations.
Footage not related to Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene struck Florida's Gulf Coast on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm, causing mandatory evacuations for several counties and triggering power outages for millions of residents in the Southeast.
However, the clips shown in the Instagram video are unrelated to the destructive hurricane.
Most obvious is the fact that the post was shared on Sept. 25, the day before the storm initially hit Florida. The footage in it is sped-up versions of video filmed in many different locations and shows an array of storms and tornados.
The first clip of a storm tearing through a yard with a shed and a red truck was shared on YouTube by Reuters in July 2023. The footage shows a tornado striking North Carolina, according to the video's title.
The second clip shows strong winds whipping debris across a street during a storm in Urbandale, Iowa, in July, according to a Facebook post shared by a group of meteorologists.
Fact check: Image of person thrown in storm not from Hurricane Beryl
The video of the trampoline blowing across someone's backyard and tearing through their fence was captured during a 2021 storm in North Carolina, according to the Weather Channel.
The clip of a storm filmed from a balcony was shared on TikTok on Sept. 7, nearly three weeks before Hurricane Helene touched down in Florida. Text in the TikTok video says the footage was captured during a typhoon in Vietnam.
The user who shared the post couldn't be reached for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
Reuters (YouTube), July 21, 2023, Tornado tears roof off of North Carolina home
IWeatherNet, July 15, Facebook post
Weather Channel, Aug. 5, 2021, She Could Only Watch as Storm Trashed Her Yard
Disaster_nature1, Sept. 7, TikTok post
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Storm video unrelated to Hurricane Helene | Fact check