Viral videos of waterspout, oil tanker in rough seas are not from Hurricane Idalia

On Aug. 30, Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast as a dangerous Category 3 storm.

Photos and videos have appeared online purportedly showing the damage the storm has caused to Florida’s coast. 

Meteorologist Reed Timmer shared this video showing structural damage at a residential property in Cedar Key, Florida. That video is real.

Another viral post claims that video of a dangerous waterspout approaching Clearwater Beach is from Hurricane Idalia. Yet another post with video of a large oil tanker rocking through rough seas claims the vessel was caught in the same storm.

VERIFY looked into whether these two videos were actually from Hurricane Idalia.

QUESTION #1

Does this video show a dangerous waterspout created by Hurricane Idalia?

THE SOURCES

• Original video from June 2023
• Clearwater Police Department
• Google Lens, a reverse image search tool

THE ANSWER

No, the video doesn’t show a waterspout created by Hurricane Idalia. The video is from June 2023.

WHAT WE FOUND

The video of the waterspout causing chaos on Florida’s Clearwater Beach was taken months before Hurricane Idalia made landfall.

The video was originally posted on June 16 by Danielle Tarjoman. VERIFY was able to find the original video by using Google Lens, a reverse image search tool.

Tarjoman’s Facebook post said, “‘Heads up! Destructive water spout off Clearwater Beach making landfall, creating massive damage!’ Did I do a good job as a new weatherman?!? But seriously, how crazy?!?”

The Clearwater Police Department also posted a video to Facebook on June 16 showing the same waterspout incident at Clearwater Beach.

Two people suffered minor injuries after being struck by flying debris, according to police.

Clearwater Beach is located about 200 miles south of where Hurricane Idalia made landfall.

QUESTION #2

Does this video show an oil tanker caught in Hurricane Idalia?

THE SOURCES

• Original video from August 2021
• Google Lens

THE ANSWER

No, the video doesn’t show an oil tanker caught in Hurricane Idalia. This video is at least two years old and from the coast of Denmark.

WHAT WE FOUND

Using Google Lens, VERIFY was able to confirm the video showing the large oil tanker traversing rough seas is not from Hurricane Idalia, nor was it taken anywhere near Idalia’s path.

According to video licensing company NewsFlare, the tanker was enduring wind speeds of 70 to 80 knots (roughly 80 mph) on Aug. 16, 2021 in a storm off the coast of Aalborg, Denmark.

The video was picked up by several news organizations at that time, including NowThisNews.

The VERIFY team is monitoring social media for false claims or footage connected to the storm. If you see an image you want verified, email questions@verifythis.com.