A Facebook post shared on February 27, 2023 contains a video claiming to show Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The post contains a caption that reads; “Tropical cyclone Freddy… Affected countries we are praying for you.”
Background
Tropical cyclone Freddy hit South East Africa from late February into March. It first hit Mauritius on February 20, 2023. The cyclone then hit Mozambique on February 24, 2023. On March 11, 2023, it was back again, causing floods in Mozambique and Malawi. The cyclone led to loss of lives and property, with the affected countries trying to clear the debris and rebuild their lives.
Verification
A reverse image search on the keyframes generated from the video redirects to this video uploaded on TBS News Dig. The video is from 2011 when a tsunami-ravaged parts of Japan in March 2011. The caption in the video translates to read: ‘Huge Tsunami Overcoming Seawall in Kamaishi City.’
Verdict
Claims that the video is of Tropical Cyclone Freddy are FAKE.
This fact-check was produced by Africa Uncensored with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, the International Fact-Checking Network, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance network.
Additional reporting by Tracy Bonareri.
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