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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.

3,262 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Celebrations of Congress party Muslim leaders in a farmhouse during Hyderabad floods

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a collage presented as showing Muslim Congress leaders celebrating at a farmhouse while Hyderabad was experiencing floods. FACTLY investigated the images in that collage and reported that they came from two separate Congress gatherings held before the city’s flooding, rather than from a celebration during the floods. For photos 1, 3 and 4, the review says it recognized Telangana Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir and used reverse image search to locate videos with similar visuals. It reports that a video posted by Star News Express on 7 October 2020 described an event where more than 200 educated youths joined Congress in the Karwan Golconda division. The review also found the same visuals in another video, posted on 6 October, whose description identified the event as being in the Karwan area of Golconda division. For photos 2, 5 and 6, FACTLY says reverse image searches located the same images in a Facebook post by Hyderabad Congress Minority department chairman Sameer Waliullah. That post said the images were taken at a dinner get-together at his farmhouse on 13 September 2020. The review concluded that the collage combined images from the September dinner and October party event, both predating the heavy-rain floods it dates to 13 October 2020. This evidence contradicts the collage’s presentation of the gatherings as celebrations during the floods.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Video of a partly submerged railway bridge in Bheema river near Tadwal railway station which is part of Solapur-Bijapur route

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim attached to the circulating video identified the partly submerged bridge as part of the Solapur–Bijapur route, near Tadwal railway station, and placed it in the Bheema river. FACTLY’s review says the footage instead shows the Tandava railway bridge at Tuni, Andhra Pradesh, during flooding in 2012. It therefore does not show the claimed bridge or establish that the Solapur–Bijapur bridge was submerged in recent rainfall. To identify the footage, the review reports using reverse image searches on video screenshots. Those searches led to Telugu news videos identifying the visuals as floodwater overflowing the Tandava railway bridge at Tuni. The review also says keyword searches found YouTube videos with the same visuals and news reports from November 2012 about the Tandava bridge being partly submerged during floods. The review further cites a South Central Railway press note saying its general manager visited the flood-affected Tandava bridge in November 2012. It describes a separate railway clarification that the video was old, that the Tandava bridge was not submerged and was in good condition, and that the footage was not from recent rains. The review’s conclusion is that the video was misidentified as showing the Solapur–Bijapur route and the Bheema river.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Video of People swimming in the floodwaters of Hyderabad (India)

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing people swimming in floodwaters in Hyderabad, India. FACTLY says the footage instead shows Karachi, Pakistan, and is not connected to the Hyderabad flooding caused by heavy rain. The review’s conclusion is based on comparisons with earlier posts and visual features in the video, rather than on the claim’s location label alone. To investigate the footage, the review reports using reverse image searches on screenshots from the video. It says that videos with similar visuals had appeared on social media at least as early as August, and that those earlier posts indicated the clip was old and unrelated to the recent Hyderabad floods. Some users had identified the incident as being in Karachi. The review also describes two visual checks supporting that identification: auto-rickshaws visible in the footage were similar to vehicles manufactured by Pakistan-based Sazgar Engineering Works Limited, and the opening scene showed buildings matching visuals in a separate video of Tarikh Road in Karachi. FACTLY therefore identifies the video as footage from Karachi, not Hyderabad.

FactlyDisasters & emergencies

Traffic signal post being swept away in flooded streets of Hyderabad due to recent rains.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing a traffic signal post swept away by flooding in Hyderabad after recent rains. Factly’s review identifies the footage as an older incident in Yulin city, South China, rather than Hyderabad. It reports that the signal was temporary and was swept down a flooded street in 2018: “In 2018, due to the heavy rain, a temporary traffic signal post was swept down in the flooded streets of Yulin city in South China.” Factly describes two checks used to establish the footage’s provenance. First, it examined visible writing in the video, noting that “names on the signboards and stickers on a bike are not in any of the Indian languages” and identifying the language as Mandarin. Second, it used reverse image searches of video screenshots and found the same video on the official YouTube channel of Chinese government news channel CGTN. The review says CGTN’s description places the incident in Yulin and dates the filming to 11 May 2018. The review also reports that CGTN posted the same video on its official Twitter account and that The Weather Channel website identified the footage as an incident in Yulin. It notes that Factly had previously debunked the same video when it was shared as Mumbai footage. These details support the review’s conclusion that the video does not show Hyderabad; they identify a different city and an earlier event, rather than disputing that flooding occurred there.

FactlyDisasters & emergencies

Video of Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad flooded in rainwater

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video circulated as showing rainwater flooding Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Shamshabad, Hyderabad. Factly placed it amid reports of heavy rainfall in Hyderabad on 13 October 2020, but concluded the footage was not from that airport. Its account identifies the video as showing flooding at Mexico City International Airport instead. Factly describes checking screenshots from the video with Google Reverse Image Search. The search returned similar videos, and the review says the footage was available online at least since August 2017. It also reports that several media outlets had identified the location as Mexico City International Airport, Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez. These findings place the footage years before the Hyderabad rain event and at a different airport. The review adds two location-specific details: a frame shows the colors of the Mexican flag, and RGIA authorities said on their official Twitter account that the video “does not belong to RGI Airport.” Together, the reported image-search results, the earlier online appearance, the flag detail and the airport authority’s clarification support the conclusion that this was old footage from Mexico, not a video of Hyderabad’s airport flooding.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Photo shows the Kacheguda Railway Station (Hyderabad) tracks filled with rainwater

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a photo of railway tracks filled with water, said to show Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad after heavy rain. The review identifies the photo as showing Nidadavole Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh instead. It also notes that the same image was being shared as Jangoan Railway Station in Telangana, and rejects both locations as incorrect. This is a location mismatch: the image does not depict the station named in the claim. To identify the scene, the review reports that a reverse-image search produced no useful results. It then found people attributing the same photo to Nidadavole and searched using those terms, locating a BBC News Telugu video of Nidadavole Railway Station posted on 13 October 2020. The review says it compared the video’s visuals with the photo and concluded they showed the same station. It also points to an Eenadu article about rainwater at Nidadavole Railway Station. The excerpt does not provide details of that article or describe particular visual features in the comparison, so those details cannot be independently assessed from the supplied text.