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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Disasters & emergencies fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about disasters & emergencies. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,259 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Video of a crocodile swimming in a flooded street of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video of a crocodile moving through a flooded street that social-media text identifies as Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. FACTLY’s review says the incident shown was in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, where heavy rain preceded a crocodile’s appearance in a residential colony. The review’s account therefore disputes the location attached to the video, rather than whether the footage shows a crocodile in a waterlogged street. To investigate, FACTLY says it searched Google with relevant keywords and found an India.com report containing a screengrab from the viral video. It then located multiple reports of the same incident. The review also cites an NDTV account that the crocodile was first seen near a bus stand, that authorities were alerted, and that a rescue team captured it after about an hour. According to that account, the eight-foot animal was later released in Sankhya Sagar Lake, on the national park premises. These details connect the footage to the Shivpuri incident and undercut the Aligarh location label.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasDisasters & emergencies

El puente roto de la foto viral es “de Junco a Las Piedras”, en Puerto Rico, y colpasó por el huracán Fiona.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review examined a specific viral Facebook photo said to show a bridge between Junco and Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, damaged by Hurricane Fiona. Its investigation identifies the structure in the image instead as the Gaoliao Bridge in Hualien, Taiwan, and attributes its damage to a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on September 18, 2022—not to Fiona. The article says its image search led to the original publication and location of the incident. [S1] To trace the image, the reviewers used TinEye, which returned a Taiwan News story about the earthquake showing the damaged bridge. They report that Taiwan News credited the original photograph to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA). A Google video search also led them to footage of the damaged area that, according to the article, again referred to CNA. [S1] The review separately compared the viral image with the purported Puerto Rico location using Google Maps. It says the only bridge on that stretch has a different structure: the Cruz Ortíz Estella highway passes beneath it, and it lacks the stream and concrete barriers visible in the viral image. These comparisons support the review’s conclusion that the photo depicts the earthquake-damaged Gaoliao Bridge, rather than a Puerto Rican bridge damaged by Fiona. [S1]

Fact Crescendo CambodiaDisasters & emergencies

ទំព័រ​ហ្វេស​ប៊ុក​មួយ បាន​បង្ហោះ​ចំនួន​ ៣​សន្លឹក​ ដែល​បាន​បង្ហាញ​នូវ​ទិដ្ឋភាព​នៃ​ការ​ជន់​លិច​ផ្ទះ​សម្បែង​ និង​​ហេដ្ឋារចនាស​ម្ព័ន្ធ​​ផ្លូវ​ផង​ដែរ​។​ រូប​ថត​ខាង​លើ​នេះ​ ត្រូវ​បាន​ភ្ជាប់​ជាមួយ​នឹង​ការ​អះ​អាង​ថា​ ជា​ទិដ្ឋភាព​ទឹក​ជំនន់​ប្រទេស​ថៃ​នា​ពេល​ប៉ុន្មាន​ថ្ងៃ​ចុង​ក្រោយ​នេះ​។​

Publisher’s rating: Missing Context

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Brand op goederentrein met (zeer brandbare) elektrische auto's in Etten-Leur. 'Fijn die elektrische auto's'.

Publisher’s rating: De brand ontstond door een defect in de bovenleiding die op de trein terechtkwam. Het ging ook om hybride auto's die uitbrandden, niet om auto's die enkel op batterij rijden.

The claim refers to the fire involving a car-carrying freight train in Etten-Leur, where online posts blamed the transported electric cars. The review says the fire happened on the railway and describes the allegation as being that “de elektrische auto's die vervoerd werden op de trein” caused it. Its account instead identifies a railway fault as the cause: ProRail reported that a defective overhead wire broke off and landed on the freight train. The investigation also checked what kind of vehicles were involved. A spokesperson for the Safety Region of Midden en West-Brabant told dpa that they were hybrids, not fully electric cars. The review notes that the train mainly carried Ford Puma models, which it describes as mild hybrids with a 48-volt battery. Thus, describing the burned cars simply as electric cars omits a distinction the investigation considered important. The review reports that 30 cars burned completely and 60 others were heavily damaged, and that firefighting took two hours. It also cites an NIPV spokesperson explaining that mild-hybrid cars have smaller battery packs and are quicker to extinguish than fully electric vehicles. For this incident, the spokesperson said the small packs did not make the fire more severe. The review therefore distinguishes both the cause of the fire and the vehicle type from the online account.

Fact Crescendo CambodiaDisasters & emergencies

ទំព័រ​ហ្វេស​ប៊ុកមួយ​​ឈ្មោះ​ថា White House News បាន​បង្ហោះ​វីដេអូ​ឃ្លីប​មួយ​ ដោយ​បង្ហាញ​ទិដ្ឋភាព​ទឹក​រលក​​ជន់​លិច​កំពង់​ផែ​មួយ​កន្លែង​។​ ទំព័រ​ហ្វេស​ប៊ុក​នេះ​ បាន​អះ​អាង​ជា​សំឡេង​នៅ​ក្នុង​វីដេអូ​ថា​ គឺ​ជា​ទិដ្ឋភាព​ព្យុះ​ និង​ទឹក​ជន់​លិច​នៅ​កូរ៉េ​ខាង​ត្បូង​កាល​ពី​ប៉ុន្មាន​ថ្ងៃ​ចុង​ក្រោយ​នេះ​។​ ការ​បង្ហោះ​វីដេអូ​ដោយ​ភ្ជាប់​នឹង​ការ​អះ​អាង​បែប​នេះ​ ត្រូវ​បាន​ចែក​ចាយ​នៅ​លើ​បណ្ដាញ​សង្គម​យ៉ាង​ផុស​ផុល​។​

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Recent video showing a cloudburst in Bengaluru

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video circulated as recent footage of a cloudburst in Bengaluru during continuous rainfall there. FACTLY’s review examined that specific video and reported that its visuals instead came from a time-lapse storm video made near Perth Airport in Australia in 2020. It concluded that the footage did not show a recent Bengaluru cloudburst. The review describes its identification method: reverse image searches of screenshots from the circulated video led to a similar video in photographer Kane Artie’s Facebook post dated 25 February 2020. Artie’s post described filming a storm at a viewing area near Perth Airport. The review also says Artie identified the video as a time-lapse from February 2020 and that Severe Weather Australia tweeted the same video on 26 February 2020. Those provenance details support the finding that the footage was Australian and from 2020, rather than recent footage of Bengaluru.