Cyclone Nisarga made landfall on the Maharashtra coast near Alibag on Wednesday, 3 May after intensifying into a "severe cyclonic storm”. Now, several unverified videos and images are being shared on social media claiming to show the devastating impact of the cyclone.
In one such case, a video which could be traced back to 2019, is being shared with a claim that it contains visuals from the eye of the cyclonic storm.
THE CLAIM
Among those who shared the video are news website Firstpost and journalist Abhijit Majumder. The aforementioned video is being massively shared on Twitter and Facebook with the same claim. Firstpost attributed the video to CNNnews18.
However the video has now been taken down.
WHAT WE FOUND
We fragmented the video into several keyframes using the InVid Google Chrome extension and followed it up with a reverse image search. This directed us to several videos on YouTube which dated back to October 2019.
The video suggested that the visuals are from a Cyclone in Goa. We found another video which established the location of the visuals as Goa’s Bambolin Beach.
We then searched Google with keywords “Cyclone in Goa October 2019” and came across a news report by Hindustan Times which suggested that Cyclone Kyarr arrived in Goa on 25 October and was accompanied by strong winds and rainfall.
While we cannot confirm that the video is indeed from Goa, it is certain that an old video which can be traced back to 2019 is being shared in the context of Cyclone Nisarga.
(You can read all our coronavirus related fact-checked stories here.)
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on Whatsapp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)