Old video of Mumbai storm incorrectly attributed to cyclone Biparjoy

Context

Cyclone Biparjoy which has intensified into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm," is set to make landfall in Gujarat this Thursday. The cyclone will bring heavy to very heavy rainfall, and extremely heavy rains in the state between Wednesday and Thursday, according to India's weather forecasting agency India Meteorological Department (IMD). As the intensity of the storm increased yesterday, Mumbai experienced heavy rain and strong winds, even briefly affecting flight operations, reported NDTV.

A video that appears to be filmed from a balcony, showing a coconut tree swaying side-to-side wildly in heavy rain, has been shared on Twitter, claiming to show the effect of Cyclone Biparjoy. The video includes some music. However, this video is old and unrelated.

In Fact

Based on the comments under the post, our search results led us to multiple posts of the same video from Twitter and YouTube over the years, each claiming to be from a different cyclone. This video has been attributed to Cyclone Nivar, which impacted Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in November 2020; Cyclone Taukte, which affected Gujarat in May 2021; and Cyclone Yaas, which caused severe damage in Odisha and West Bengal in May 2021.

A reverse image search of one of the keyframes led us to the same video posted on ShareChat with a different audio in 2021. We also searched for videos of “coconut tree swaying in rain,” which yielded results for the same video with an older upload date. 

Mumbai Mirror published the video on August 6, 2020, with the title “Viral Video: Coconut tree swaying dangerously due to strong winds and rain in Mumbai.” In this version of the video, heavy rain and wind noises can be heard, along with some people talking in the background.

Similarly, on August 6, 2020, The New Indian Express posted a video on its YouTube channel titled "Floods 2020: Mumbai records historic highest single-day rainfall," which includes the same clip of the tree swaying. In August 2020, Mumbai received 1,044.8 mm of rain between August 1 and 25, creating a new record for maximum August rainfall. This was accompanied by heavy storms and left the city inundated.

The viral video does not show the effects of cyclone Biparjoy and is a visual from a storm that hit Mumbai in August 2020.

The Verdict

A video of a coconut tree swaying dangerously during heavy rains in Mumbai from August 2020 is incorrectly shared as being from cyclone Biparjoy in 2023. Therefore, we have marked this claim false.