Fact Check: Old visuals of floods falsely linked to Cyclone Michaung in Chennai
Both videos are unrelated to the recent floods in Chennai.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Hyderabad: As the heavy rain triggered by Cyclone Michaung claimed the lives of at least 17 people in Chennai, several videos and images are circulating on social media, claiming to depict the havoc caused by the cyclone in the city.
One video, showing a two-story house collapsing in what appears to be a river, went viral with the claim that the incident happened in Chennai. “Dear friends in Chennai..plz stay safe & secure. Go out only if necessary—pretty scary visuals. But stay calm. ” wrote a person while sharing the video on X.
Another video shared on Facebook shows men playing in a waterlogged area in front of a church and women enjoying a slide in a waterlogged residential area. The video was shared, suggesting it to be recent visuals from Chennai. ( Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that both videos are unrelated to the recent floods in Chennai.
Video 1
A reverse image search of the video's keyframe revealed that NDTV reported it on October 17, 2021. The incident occurred in Kerala's Kottayam district, where heavy rain caused a flood-like situation and triggered landslides, resulting in 21 deaths.
Sky News also published the video on October 19, 2021, reporting 22 deaths in Kerala due to flash floods and landslides.
Upon a reverse image search of the keyframes of the second video, we found an extended version of it posted by the Facebook page “Kanyakumari Heritage Society” on November 14, 2021. It showed the visuals of men playing in front of the Church and women sliding in the waterlogged area. The caption mentioned that the video is from Kanyakumari.
Further, using Google Lens and Google Maps, we identified that the Church seen in the video is St Michael Church situated in Thuckalay town of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu.
A visual comparison between a photograph of the Church on Google Maps and the viral video is presented below.
Another Facebook account also posted a clip of women sliding in the waterlogged area on November 13, 2021.
We also found the screengrab of women sliding in the water in a News 18 report from November 15, 2013, titled 'Flooded Kanyakumari Streets Turn 'Water Park' As Youngsters Swim, Play Volleyball.'
The Facebook posts from 2021 and the News 18 report confirm that the videos are not linked to the recent flooding in Chennai. Hence, we conclude that the viral videos are unrelated to the recent flooding in Chennai. The claims are false.
