Old picture of submerged city in China resurfaces as country's south hit by floods in 2024
An old picture showing heavily submerged streets has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely linked it to deadly flooding in southern China in June 2024. The photo was taken in Xiamen city in southeastern Fujian province after Typhoon Megi hit the country in September 2016.
"Pray for China, which is experiencing intense floods due to heavy rainfall," read part of a Tagalog-language Facebook post shared on June 25, 2024.
Referring to an attached photo of flooded city streets, the post went on to say: "Look: China's Guangxi province (sic) is experiencing heavy rains and severe flooding caused by a frontal system, causing severe flooding in many areas there."
The post also included a link supposedly directing readers to the "actual video" of the flood but which in fact led them to the landing page of online shopping platform Lazada.
The post circulated as China's south -- including the autonomous region of Guangxi -- endured heavy rains and flooding in June 2024.
According to state media, at least 38 people were killed in densely populated Guangdong province where some areas saw record flooding. The provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou were also affected.
Scientists say climate change makes extreme weather such as heavy rains more frequent and intense.
The photo was also shared on Facebook here, here and here, and published alongside other images of flooding here and here.
But the photo is old and was not taken in Guangxi.
2016 typhoon
Reverse image searches on Google and Baidu found the photo shows flooding in Xiamen city in China's southeastern Fujian province in 2016.
The state-run China Daily and Taiwan-based newspaper The Liberty Times published the photo of the flooded intersection after Typhoon Megi smashed into the Chinese mainland on September 28, 2016 (archived links here and here).
Typhoon Megi hit China with heavy rain and winds of around 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour, dropping more than 300 mm of precipitation in several areas, according to the official Xinhua news service.
AFP also distributed a photo of the flooding taken from a different angle.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in the false posts (left) and the photo from AFP's archives (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:
The AFP photo's caption says it shows streets submerged in floodwaters brought by Typhoon Megi in Xiamen on September 28, 2016.
AFP geolocated the building along the intersection of Wusi Road and Hualin Road in Xiamen city as seen in Baidu Maps Street View imagery from 2015 (archived link).
The street view shows the grey building's rooftop dome and the taller white building beside it.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image used in the false posts (left) and the Baidu Maps Street View (right):
AFP has previously debunked misrepresented photos of floods here, here and here.
