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| - By: Vanita Ganesh
October 11 2024
The video shows a traffic jam on Mumbai's flooded Western Express Highway, misrepresented online as Florida during Hurricane Milton.
What is the claim?
Hurricane Milton made landfall on the Florida coast on October 9, 2024. In the wake of the hurricane, a video showing heavy traffic on a waterlogged road and bridge has circulated online, claiming to depict Florida residents stuck in traffic.
A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “People Are STUCK On Bridges During Hurricane Milton.” The video was also posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a verified account called 'Weather Monitor,' captioned, “Florida's Desperate Escape: Families Stuck as Hurricane Milton Nears.” Similar claims can be viewed here and here.
Screenshots of the video shared on Facebook and X claiming to show people escaping Hurricane Milton in Florida. (Source: Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)
Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm, caused widespread damage in Florida, leaving 3.2 million homes without power and resulting in at least 14 confirmed deaths.
However, our investigation revealed that the video is not from Florida but instead depicts a waterlogged expressway in Mumbai, India.
What we found
The X video features overlaid text reading “Western Exp Highway” and includes an Instagram watermark from the user “laljipatel.”
We discovered the now-viral video on Instagram (archived here). It was originally captioned “Mumbai Rain” and uploaded on September 25, 2024. This timestamp indicates that the video predated Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
Comparison of the September 25 video from Instagram and the viral post. (Source: Facebook/Instagram)
Using visual clues, including the elevated structure, foot-over-bridge, and bus stops in the video, we geolocated the scene to the Western Express Highway in Mumbai, Maharashtra. This confirms that the video was not recorded in Florida.
The local news outlet Mid Day shared a similar video on September 25 (archived here), noting that it shows traffic on the Western Express Highway. The Indian Express reported that on September 25, multiple traffic snarls were reported in the city, particularly affecting the Western Express Highway, which connects the suburb of Bandra to Mira Road.
The verdict
A video depicting Mumbai’s Western Express Highway was misrepresented as footage of people stuck in traffic during Hurricane Milton in Florida.
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