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Wasi Mirza

With the rise of social media and generative AI, how much of what we see online is true? In this new series, SCMP Fact-Check, the Post investigates claims circulating online and debunks viral misinformation impacting the daily lives of Hongkongers.
A Facebook reel was posted on September 24 – the day Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km south of Hong Kong – and has since been shared at least 18,000 times.
“Typhoon Ragasa hits Hong Kong with 240 mph winds today Sep 24, 2025 [sic],” the superimposed text reads.
The video featured a compilation of footage from several adverse weather events, beginning with a woman being knocked to the ground by gusts of wind.

The reel gained momentum online as Super Typhoon Ragasa triggered Hong Kong’s highest-level No 10 typhoon warning signal and brought the city to a standstill for nearly two days.
The scene was also shared in other Facebook posts here and here.
But the footage of the woman has circulated online since April 2024.
Investigation
A reverse image search on Google led to this YouTube clip published on May 2, 2024, by the video licensing agency ViralBear.
The video appears flipped horizontally but matches the scene of the woman falling down in the Facebook reel.
The description reads in part: “In a harrowing scene captured by @yiyayi on April 26, 2024, in Guangdong province, China, a severe storm battered the region with relentless force.”
Using these details, a search also found the video published by viral-video licensing platform Newsflare, credited to the same author and filmed on the same date.
Below is a screenshot comparing scenes in the Facebook reel with the version from ViralBear.

Guangdong province was hit by fatal floods in April 2024, while the province’s capital Guangzhou was also hit with a tornado, the Post reported at the time.
The other videos featured in the compilation have not been verified by the Post.
SCMP Fact-Check has reached out to the Facebook account owners for comment.
Verdict: False
Seen something suspicious online? Tell us on factcheck@scmp.com.


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Hong Kong weather

This video does not show Hongkonger knocked over during Super Typhoon Ragasa

A screenshot from a video inaccurately linked to Super Typhoon Ragasa in Hong Kong. Photo: Facebook/SCMP composite

A screenshot of the reel with lines drawn through by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP composite

A composite image comparing a key frame from the Facebook reel (left) with the video from ViralBear (right), with similar scenes highlighted by the Post. Photo: Facebook/ViralBear/SCMP composite

‘Videos from Hong Kong’s 2025 rainstorm’ actually show downpour in 2023

A screenshot of the two reels side by side with lines drawn by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

Pedestrians brave the rain under a black rainstorm warning at Hill Road in Hong Kong’s Shek Tong Tsui, August 14, 2025. Photo: Karma Lo

A screenshot of the footage in the misleading posts (left) with the CNS video (right), with similar features highlighted by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

A Post photograph of the engulfed Chai Wan street on September 8, 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

A screenshot showing the video in the misleading posts (left) with the one from 2023 (right), with similar features highlighted by the Post. Photo: Facebook/Daily Express US/SCMP Composite

Video ‘from fatal Air India crash in June’ actually shows Hong Kong airport

Parts of an Air India plane that crashed on June 12 are seen on top of a building in Ahmedabad, India. Photo: AP

Screenshot of the false post with lines crossed through by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

A screenshot showing similar scenes from the video (left) and the photo on Alamy (right), with similar areas highlighted by the Post. Photo: Facebook/Alamy/SCMP composite

A screenshot of a frame from the video (left) and satellite imagery (right), with similar features highlighted by SCMP. Photo: Facebook/Google/SCMP Composite

News

Hong Kong

Society

SCMP Fact-Check

This video of ‘Iran capturing US pilot’ was filmed in Pakistan

A screenshot showing scenes from a video falsely claiming to show a US pilot captured by Iran, with lines drawn through by the SCMP. Photo: Handout/SCMP

A screenshot showing scenes from the video with lines drawn through by the SCMP. Photo: Handout/SCMP

A screenshot showing scenes from the false post (left) with the one from YouTube (right) uploaded in May last year. Photo: Handout/SCMP Composite

A screenshot comparing visuals from the video (left) to one on Google Maps (right) with similar features highlighted by the SCMP. Photo: Handout/SCMP

This photo of firefighter rescuing cat is not from Hong Kong’s Tai Po blaze

A screenshot of the post with lines drawn through by the Post. Photo: Instagram/SCMP Composite

A composite showing the image in the misleading posts (left) with the one from the report (right). Photo: Hong Kong Animal Post/SCMP Composite

A composite of the image in the misleading online posts (left) with the one from HK01 (right). Photo: Instagram/HK01/SCMP Composite

Video of ‘firefighters in Hong Kong’ actually shows blaze in Chile in 2024

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook reel with lines drawn through by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

Screenshot of the Facebook reel with lines drawn through by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

A composite image showing scenes from the Facebook reel (left) and the one uploaded by GoPro (right). Photo: Facebook/GoPro/SCMP Composite

AI-generated scenes ‘from France’s 2025 Louvre heist’ circulate in Hong Kong

A screenshot of different points in the Facebook reel showing the two fabricated videos of the heist. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

Instances of morphed hands (left) and a disappearing crowbar (right) highlighted in the two fabricated videos. Photo: Facebook/Composite via AI Forensics

Instances of the Sora watermarks in both videos. Photo: Facebook/Composite via AI Forensics

A comparison of the entrance of the gallery in the fabricated video (left) with an image of the genuine Apollo Gallery (right). Photo: Facebook/Louvre/SCMP Composite

A comparison of the roof structure and artwork from the fabricated video (left) and the genuine Louvre gallery (right). Photo: Facebook/Louvre/SCMP Composite

Photo from 2022 shared online as depicting July fire on Air India plane leaving Hong Kong

An Air India Airbus A320 aircraft. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post with lines crossed through. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

A composite image showing the misleading Facebook post (left) with a frame from the OTV report (right). Photo: Facebook/OTV/SCMP composite

Video of people struggling in Typhoon Wipha winds filmed in Zhuhai, not Hong Kong

A screenshot of the video posted on Facebook with lines crossed through by the Post. Photo: Facebook/SCMP Composite

A composite of the video in the misleading posts (left) with the video on MSN (right). Photo: Facebook/MSN/SCMP Composite

A composite showing scenes from the video in the misleading posts (left) with an image from Google Maps (right), with similar elements highlighted by the Post. Photo: Facebook/Google/SCMP Composite

A composite showing the name of the club visible in AccuWeather’s video (left) compared to a video filmed at the same location (right). Photo: AccuWeather/YouTube/SCMP Composite

‘SCMP report’ claiming Hongkongers ‘will receive income from taxes’ is fake

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, pictured during an interview on June 20, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A screenshot of the article crossed through by the Post. Photo: Handout/SCMP composite

Footage of a woman struggling in intense winds is falsely linked to the typhoon that hit Hong Kong this year


Footage of a woman struggling in intense winds is falsely linked to the typhoon that hit Hong Kong this year.


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Fact-Check

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Footage of a woman struggling in intense winds is falsely linked to the typhoon that hit Hong Kong this year

Footage of a woman struggling in intense winds is falsely linked to the typhoon that hit Hong Kong this year