Spanish tornado video misused to depict typhoon ‘Tino’

A Facebook reel posted by a local radio station purportedly showing the landfall of typhoon “Tino” (international name Kalmaegi) in the Visayas is actually a video of a tornado that struck Spain in late October.

The manipulated 17-second video was uploaded on Nov. 4 by Bombo Radyo Gensan to its Facebook page with the caption:

TIGNAN | Malakas na paghagupit ni bagyong Tino sa Visayas (LOOK | Typhoon Tino strongly devastates Visayas).

It was also accompanied by a voiceover claiming to show conditions in the Visayas:

Heto na po ang kalagayan namin ngayong gabi, dito po sa Visayas, sa pagdapo po ni bagyong Tino. Pati itong hotel na aming tinutuluyan ay talagang gustong gibain ni Tino (This is our situation tonight, here in Visayas, ravaged by Typhoon Tino. Tino wants to destroy even the hotel where we’re staying at).

The radio station did not state the source of the video. FactRakers has reached out to Bombo Radyo Gensan for a comment and is waiting for a reply.

A Google reverse image search reveals that the same footage was published by Spanish television channel Canalcosta TV in an Oct. 31 online news article about a severe storm that hit Gibraleón town in Huelva, Spain two days earlier.

Additional keyword searches led to the same video on X showing a tornado hitting Gibraleón on Oct. 29 when the tornado struck the town.

The post author, José Manuel Álvarez Gómez (@Josemaalgo82), said in the replies that he recorded the video inside Bar El Kiosco. 

The restaurant’s facade and surrounding buildings match Google Maps’ street view feature images of the area.

The original clip also appeared brighter and has no narration unlike the manipulated video.

The regional government of Andalusia in Spain reported that Huelva experienced heavy rainfall, strong winds and tornadoes last Oct. 29.

Typhoon Tino entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Nov. 2 and exited on Nov. 7 after bringing heavy rain and flash floods in the Visayas and Mindanao. It has displaced more than 300,000 Filipinos and left 232 dead.

The altered reel has garnered more than 23,300 reactions, 1,100 comments and 2,600 shares as of press time. (APC)