Fact-Check: Old, Unrelated Visuals Falsely Peddled as Clips From Flood-Hit Kenya

Nearly all the videos in this compilation of floods and rains are old and not related to Kenya.

Neither are these visuals recent, nor are they from Kenya.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

After weeks of heavy rainfall and flash floods wreaked havoc across parts of Kenya, social media users shared a compilation of gushing water sweeping away cars and infrastructure, claiming to show visuals from the African country.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)

Some users have also claimed that the compilation shows visuals from Asia.

(Archives of more claims on the internet can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, all clips in the video are old and not related to the recent flooding across Kenya.

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search using Google Lens for every frame where the visuals appeared to be changing.

• This showed us that most of the visuals had been flipped horizontally, and that the video carried six distinct visuals.

Video 1

This first video shows a bridge being washed away.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

• A search on the clip of a bridge being washed away led us to a report on weather.com, which was published on 5 October 2022.

• The text mentioned that it showed a bridge being washed away by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico.

The visuals are from Puerto Rico, when Hurricane Fiona flooded parts of the island.

(Source: Weather.com/Altered by The Quint)

Using the title as keywords for a Google search, we came across media reports related to the hurricane, such as this NBC News video from 19 September 2022.

Other reports which carried the same visuals can be seen here and here.

Video 2

The second video shows floodwaters breaking a bridge.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

A Google lens search on this video returned a link to a Turkish news website, NTV, which carried the video in a report published in August 2021.

The video was first shared in August 2021.

(Source: NTV/Screenshot)

A translated version of the page said that the video showed a bridge over the Ezine River in Turkey collapsing.

• News reports published around that time said that the river overflowed due to heavy floods in the western Turkish town of Bozkurt.

• The disaster claimed 48 lives in Kastamonu district, The Guardian reported, adding that the river is believed to not only have washed away the bridge, but may also have swept away foundations of the buildings along its banks.

Video 3

The third video shows water flooding a place, carrying cars and barricades with it.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

• A reverse image search on this frame led us to a YouTube video, published by a channel called '2011 Japan Tsunami Archives'.

• While the video was uploaded in 2022, it mentioned that it showed visuals of the Samegawa riverbed in Japan's Iwaki city.

• The description also carried the link to the original video, uploaded by Midorikawa Photo Studio's YouTube channel, on 13 March 2011.

The video is 13 years old.

(Source: YouTube/Altered by The Quint)

Video 4

This video shows raging water sweeping cars away.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

• This video of cars being washed away by flash floods is from suburbs in western Beijing, China, according to Global Times.

• The X post carrying the video was shared on 31 July 2023.

• We found the same video on The Weather Channel's website, where it was shared with the same context.

• Other Chinese media outlets, too, shared this video.

Video 5

This video shows a pile of cars, submerged in water.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

• This video, which shows several cars piled up and partially submerged in water is from the USA.

• A Google lens search gave us a link to an X post by CNN, shared on 12 August, 2018 , which had a slightly different view of the vehicles.

• The post said that the the cars had been swept off a car dealership lot in New Jersey, after rains and thunderstorms flooded the area.

We also found this similar video on ABC News' website.

The Quint could not determine the time or location of one of the clips in the compilation.

What happened in Kenya?: Since the onset of monsoons in March, parts of Kenya saw unprecedented rainfall and flooding.

• Over 200 people have died and more than 30,000 have been displaced due to floods, with severe destruction of infrastructure, as per Firstpost.

• In early May, the BBC reported that people living near 178 dams had been ordered to evacuate immediately by the Kenyan government amid incessant, heavy rains.

Conclusion: Old and unrelated clips of floods are being falsely linked to the recent heavy rains and flood across Kenya.

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