The photo surfaced as Typhoon Yagi tore across Vietnam’s densely populated Red River delta — a vital agricultural region also home to major manufacturing hubs — damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland (archived link). Authorities said it killed at least 292 people in the country.
The storm also triggered the worst flooding in Myanmar’s recent history according to the UN’s World Food Programme, with the country’s ruling junta reporting 226 fatalities (archived link).
The photo was shared alongside similar false claims on Facebook here, here and here.
A reverse image search on Google, however, found it was published by The Associated Press (AP) news agency on November 10, 2013 (archived link).
The photo’s caption read in part: “A woman walks past damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain of shortage of food, water and no electricity since the Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture used in the false posts (left) and the AP photo (right):
Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, whipped up tsunami-like waves that devastated central islands in the Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 6,000 people (archived link).
Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province, bore the brunt of the storm’s fury and was almost totally destroyed by five-metre-high storm surges that crashed over mostly poor coastal communities.
The AP photo was also published in other reports about Haiyan here and here (archived link here and here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to Typhoon Yagi here.
David Turner is a globe-trotting journalist who brings a global perspective to our readers. With a commitment to shedding light on international events, he explores complex geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
