When Hurricane Michael slammed into Mexico Beach, Florida on October 10th, 2018, the massive storm caused as-yet untold amounts of damage, leveling homes for miles:
Amid images of survivors and the aftermath, the usual hurricane hoaxes began to appear, like this one:
Caption: “Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport – Panama City Beach, FL”The post was shared by thousands, despite the exact same image being used with abandon during Harvey, but purporting to show the Houston airport following 2017’s devastating Hurricane Harvey:
In reality, the image isn’t even a photograph but a digital mockup from artist Nickolay Lamm, part of a series showing the potential effects of climate change; the article also contains images showing what the same airport (which is LaGuardia, for the record) might look like at sea level rises at five, 12, and 25 feet. (The hoax used the image showing 25 feet.)
There are many scenes showing Michael’s devastating power and its aftermath. This one, however, is not one of them. And while we don’t ever claim to be in the business of predicting the future, we can say with confidence that when the inevitable “shark swimming through the streets after the hurricane” image appears, it won’t be real either.
- Mills, Chris. "This photo of Harvey flooding at Houston airport is totally fake."
- Freedman, Andrew. "Home Research Publications Special Reports Gallery Interactives Graphics Maps Collections Videos Extreme Weather States of Change On the Media Climate in Context News and Reports States of Change News Archive What We Do Mission Statement What We Do Board Staff Our Programs » History Funding For the Media Legal Jobs Climate Services Press Releases U.S. Airports Face Increasing Threat From Rising Seas."
- CNN. "Hurricane Michael tears through Florida."