Video purporting to be of Cyclone Hidaya hitting Tanzania is old and altered
Video has been altered using AI
CLAIM
A video was posted to Facebook purporting to show Cyclone Hidaya, which was forecast to hit Tanzania, barreling into the country with a terrifying-looking tornado accompanied by lightning strikes.
BACKGROUND
The video was posted on May 4 by a user describing themselves as living in Kenya, where warnings about the storm had been issued as it was expected to bring heavy rain. Cyclone Hidaya was forecast to make landfall in Tanzania on May 4 as a moderate tropical storm after tracking across the Indian Ocean.
In the caption accompanying the video, the user states, “For those who don’t know, this is “Cyclone Hidaya” which has reached Tanzania from Indian Ocean 😢” At the time of writing, the video had garnered 3,500 views and was shared 14 times.
METHOD
A reverse image search using a screenshot of the video led us to this TikTok account which frequently posts spectacular-looking videos of purported weather events.
On closer inspection, the page states that videos posted there are both “real and edited” ones. Many of the videos have clearly been altered, most likely using AI.
The account has three pinned videos, and the one on the far right is clearly the one posted by the Facebook user.
The video was posted on September 4, 2023, with the caption “Tornado Damage in Coastal Town.”
To determine whether this video is one of those the user had edited, a search for images using the caption brought us to this Adobe stock shot video uploaded by a user named Gabriel, which shows the same location, but without the tornado and accompanying lightning strikes.
A search for images using a screenshot of the Adobe video brought us to this YouTube video posted on October 8, 2016, by an account calling themselves “Tornado trackers .”
The video is described as a full recap of the account holders’ storm chases during Hurricane Matthew, which pummeled parts of Florida in 2016. The video is credited to three people, including one named Gabe Cox, which matches the name of the uploader of the video on Adobe.
The caption says the video was filmed in Melbourne and Jacksonville, and while watching it, we noticed this sign with the names of four businesses.
A search for the businesses allowed us to pinpoint the location, which can be seen in this Google Maps image. Three of the businesses either changed their names or closed, but the one called Frangipani is still there.
From this analysis, we can conclude that the video posted to Facebook is an altered version of one that was filmed in October 2016.
RATING
The video purporting to show a frightening tornado as Cyclone Hidaya hits Tanzania is old and has been altered using AI.
SOURCES
Facebook.com. (2023). Facebook. [online] Available at: For those who don't know, this is "Cyclone Hidaya" which has reached Tanzania from Indian Ocean [Accessed 4 May 2024].
Tiktok.com. (2024). Available at: rtsarovvideo [online] [Accessed 4 May 2024].
Tiktok.com. (2024). Tornado Damage in Coastal Town #Tornado #CoastalTown [online] [Accessed 4 May 2024].
Town, C. (2018). Available at: Coastal Town Damage As Hurricane Moves Away Stock-Video. [online] Adobe Stock. [Accessed 4 May 2024].
Tornado Trackers (2016). Available at: Hurricane Matthew – Melbourne & Jacksonville, FL. YouTube. [Accessed 4 May 2024].
Google Maps (2019). Google Maps. Available at: 1239 Florida A1A [online] Google Maps. [Accessed 4 May 2024].
