Old, unrelated videos shared as floods in Italy after Storm Boris

What's being claimed?

A video showing multiple visuals of flooded areas, submerged vehicles, and damaged buildings has been shared online, claiming they show Italy in the aftermath of Storm Boris in September 2024. Storm Boris affected the northeast and central regions of Italy, and also caused floods in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Austria. More than 20 people have been killed by the storm.

In this context, a user on Facebook shared the video on September 17 with the caption: "Flooding in Italy today." The post had over 200 reactions and 510 shares. An archive of the post can be found here.

Screenshot of the social media post. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The video shows the impact of floods in different countries during different incidents. It is not from Italy.

Here are the facts

A close observation of the video showed us that the video was in fact a collage of nine different videos stitched together. We found that every video was taken from a different flooding incident and falsely shared as Italy. Here are the details

Video 1

The first video we see in the reel shows water gushing past a red building, destroying everything in the way. A reverse image search led us to a video uploaded by The Sun (archived here) on July 3, 2021, with the title that it shows a landslide in Atami, Japan. The BBC reports that mudslides caused by heavy rains in Atami killed two people and damaged many buildings in July 2021.

Comparison of the viral video with the video published by The Sun. (Source: Facebook/YouTube)

Video 2

The second video, which starts at 0:09 seconds, is an aerial video showing floodwaters gushing through a street flanked by white buildings. 

A reverse image search led us to a Facebook video (archived here) uploaded by Dubai-based news outlet Khaleej Times on April 14, 2024, which matches the now viral visuals. The caption states that the video shows families and children trapped inside their homes amid the flash floods in Oman. A report in Gulf Today dated April 15, 2024, which published a screengrab from the video, states that heavy rainfall caused flooding in Oman in April 2024, in which 17 people were killed. 

Comparison of the viral video and the video uploaded by Khaleej Times. (Source: Facebook)

Video 3 

This video starts at the timestamp of 0:14 seconds and is similar to the first video showing water flowing past a red building, but is taken from a different angle. We found that this video was shared by Sky News on July 4, 2021, and the viral video appears to be a zoomed or cropped version of this video. The Sky News report stated that it shows the mudslide in Atami, Japan, seen on July 3, 2021. The same visuals were also shared by Al Jazeera English (archived here) on its YouTube channel on July 3, 2021. 

Video 4

This video starts at the timestamp 0:18 seconds, showing houses being destroyed and debris being swept away by water. This visual is also from the 2021 Japan mudslide.

We found a longer version of this video posted on the Facebook account called Routine of Japan (archived here), dated July 3, 2021. The caption reads, "Alert Records heavy rainfall in Shizuoka and Kanagawa prefecture. Strict caution is required for sediment-related disasters and flooding of rivers. Stay safe everyone." Atami is located in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan.

Video 5

This video, starting at 0:28 seconds, shows floodwater sweeping away houses, trees, branches, and cars. Our research showed that the video is from Turkey, not Italy as claimed.

Through a reverse image search, we found similar visuals posted on a Turkish news outlet, NTV, on August 12, 2021. The video is reported to have been recorded by a person who was waiting to be rescued, and the video captured flooded streets in the Bozkurt district of Kastamonu in Turkey. The Guardian reports that around 32 people were killed due to the floods in Kastamonu. 

Video 6

The short video starts at the timestamp of 0:44 seconds and shows a blue and white structure, cars and a bulldozer submerged in floodwaters. We can see a signboard that says "M Oil." 

A reverse image search revealed that this video is also from Turkey. We found this visual shared by The Guardian (archived here) on YouTube on August 12, 2021. At the timestamp of 0:21 seconds, we can see the same visuals as seen in the viral video. The Guardian reported that it shows heavy rains sweeping away cars in Turkey, leaving villages without electricity. Turkish news outlet Karar also shared a screengrab of the video in its report published on August 11, 2021.

Video 7

The video shows multiple cars submerged in a flooded street, with cars floating away in the current. This video begins at the 0:46 timestamp. We found that this footage is from Saudi Arabia.

A reverse image search of keyframes of the video led us to the same video posted on a Facebook account called Middle East Eye (archived here) on December 23, 2022. It was captioned: "Flash flooding has struck Al-Otaibi neighbourhood in Mecca following torrential rains, sweeping away cars and bringing the neighbourhood to a standstill." Mecca was affected by flash floods due to heavy rainfall in December 2022, Hindustan Times reports.

Video 8

At the timestamp of 0:53 seconds, the video shows a whirlpool in the middle of the street. This video is from 2023.

Through a reverse image search, we found the same visual taken from a different angle shared by a TikTok account called nature20230520 (archived here), published on June 22, 2023. The text on the video reads "Florida Flood/Whirlpool." While Logically Facts could not independently verify the location of the video, it predates the recent floods in Italy.

Video 9

At the timestamp of 0:59 seconds, visuals in the viral video show flooded streets. The video was seemingly taken by people travelling the flooded roads on jet skis. 

Through a reverse image search, we found that the video was recorded in a street in Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We were able to geolocate the video and found it was recorded on "782 Av. Mauá Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul."

The verdict

The above research shows that a compilation of old unrelated videos has been falsely shared as current floods in Italy.