Old footage of New Jersey flooding misrepresented as Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton caused widespread destruction in the US state of Florida in October 2024, but a video of a basement wall collapsing is unrelated to the storm. The footage shared online was filmed in New Jersey as remnants of Hurricane Ida triggered flash flooding in 2021.

"House wall collapses in Florida hurricane," says text over the clip shared in an October 9, 2024 X post.

In the video, a person walks through a flooded basement before a wall suddenly gives way and several feet of water pour in.

<span>Screenshot of an X post taken October 10, 2024</span>
Screenshot of an X post taken October 10, 2024

The claim circulated elsewhere on X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube. Many posts include hashtags referencing Milton.

The major Category 3 storm made landfall October 9 on the Florida Gulf Coast, whipping up a spate of deadly tornadoes that left at least four people dead and millions without power, smashing through communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier.

But the video shared online is unrelated.

reverse image search revealed multiple news outlets shared the clip September 3, 2021 on YouTube. The captions say it shows Hurricane Ida's aftermath (archived here and here).

"Surveillance video captured the frightening moment floodwaters from Ida caused a basement wall to collapse at a Cranford home Wednesday," CBS News reported (archived here).

In late August 2021, Ida cut a swath of death and destruction from Louisiana to the northeastern United States, leaving more than 100 dead and causing around $100 billion in damage.

AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about hurricanes here.