Old, unrelated visuals of rainfall, flooding shared as recent footage from Dubai

By: Annet Preethi Furtado
April 20 2024

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Screenshots of X posts claiming to show recent flooding in Dubai. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

On April 15, a severe thunderstorm hit the United Arab Emirates and continued into the next day, causing unprecedented flooding in Dubai and other cities across the region.

What's the claim?

In the wake of this event, various videos have started to circulate widely, claiming to show visuals of the floods in Dubai. One such compilation, which has gone viral on X (formerly known as Twitter), includes six videos. These videos, accompanied by audio featuring shouts and even sounds of gunfire, depict heavy rainfall, cars navigating through flooded areas, and completely submerged regions.

The video was shared with captions like: "The situation in Dubai looks scary. Make sure to stay indoors and keep safe, folks #DubaiStorm." The text embedded in the video read, "Dubai flood today," and indicated the date of the visual as "April 16th, 2024."

Screenshots of  X posts claiming to show recent flooding in Dubai. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

One post, shared by an X user named Mr. Sinha, had approximately 3.8 million views at the time of writing. Archives of the posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

The first clip in the video, which lasts up to 3 seconds, shows the Tiffany Tower, a skyscraper in Dubai, amid rainfall. The second clip, running from 3 to 20 seconds, depicts a car navigating through a flooded area, with numerous skyscrapers visible along the route. The third clip captures footage from the window of a car passing through the Global Village, a flooded entertainment attraction in Dubai.

The fourth clip, from 32 to 40 seconds, presents a scene of an area completely submerged, with only the roofs of what appear to be residential houses visible. Between approximately 41 and 53 seconds, the video showcases white cars traversing a flooded road. The final clip, starting from 54 seconds, portrays a flooded area with numerous parked cars, as the camera pans across the scene.

What are the facts?

The video is a compilation of older clips, some of which predate the recent Dubai floods. Three of these clips are from Sharjah, and one is from Russia.

Clip 1

We conducted a reverse image search and discovered that the first clip, which lasts for three seconds and depicts the Tiffany Tower, a skyscraper in Dubai, amid rainfall, was previously posted in November 2023 as part of a compilation of other videos. This November 2023 video included the Tiffany Tower clip for the first four seconds, accompanied by overlaid text that read: "Dubai storm and flood November 2023, 27 November." 

Comparison between the viral clip and the TikTok video, posted on November 20, 2023. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Although the origin of the footage is unclear, it has been online since 2023, so it cannot be footage of the recent rain in Dubai.

Clip 2

This clip shows a car navigating through a flooded area, with numerous skyscrapers visible along the route. Through a reverse image search, we found that this clip, which lasts approximately 17 seconds, was uploaded in March 2024 on TikTok. In response to a comment, the uploader claimed that it was from Sharjah, a city separate from Dubai.

Comparison between the viral clip and the TikTok video, posted in March 2024. (Source: X/TikTok/Modified by Logically Facts)

After geo-locating this clip, we identified a match in Al Majaz, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, confirming that the video showed an older event in the city.

Comparison of the screenshots from the viral clip to images from Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps/Modified by Logically Facts)

Clip 3

The third clip, running from 20 to 31 seconds, shows footage from the window of a car passing through the Global Village, a Dubai entertainment attraction, during a flood. A reverse image search revealed that this clip was posted on March 10, 2024, indicating it was filmed on March 9.

Comparison between the viral clip and the Instagram video posted in March 2024. (Source: X/Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)

On March 9, the Associated Press reported that intense rainfall had hit Dubai and the wider UAE, leading to local flooding and flight disruptions at the world's busiest international airport. Dubai police closed sections of a major highway due to water accumulation. The downpour also affected flights at Dubai International Airport, impacting operations for both Emirates and FlyDubai.

Global Village announced its closure on March 9 due to unstable weather conditions across the UAE.

Clip 4

The fourth clip, which lasts 32 to 40 seconds, depicts a completely submerged area with only the roofs of houses visible.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that the exact video was previously posted by an  X user in April 2024 with the watermark "BNN" and overlaid text that read "scenes from Russia." The caption stated, "Thousands of people have been displaced following devastating floods after major rivers burst their banks in northern Kazakhstan and Russia." BNN is a Kenya-based news outlet.

Comparison between the viral clip and an X video posted in April 2024. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

A BBC report from April 2024 titled "Russia Kazakhstan floods: High water levels swamp Orenburg houses" also featured an aerial view of residential houses similar to those depicted in the fourth clip. The report stated that floods in the Russian city of Orenburg had caused water levels to rise two meters above critical levels, leaving only the roofs of some houses visible.

Screenshot from BBC News report from April 2024. (Source: BBC News)

Clip 5

Between approximately 41 and 53 seconds, the video showcases white cars traversing a flooded road with a red building visible in the background. Although we couldn't locate the original source of this clip, we found a YouTube video that features the same structure.

This YouTube video from March 2024 displayed several outlets, such as Al Waha and Hydrofit.

Screenshot from the YouTube video displays the same building, street, and other outlet names. (Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

Upon geolocating these outlets, we determined that the viral video was shot in the Industrial Area of Sharjah.

Comparison of the screenshots from the viral clip to images from Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps/Modified by Logically Facts)

Clip 6

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that the segment starting from 54 seconds, which depicts a flooded area with numerous parked cars, was previously uploaded in February 2024 with the caption "Sharjah's rain."

Comparison between the viral clip and the TikTok video, posted in February 2024. (Source: X/TikTok/Modified by Logically Facts)

This clip also features a building with a signboard reading "IFTAR RESTAURANT." Taking a cue from the caption that mentioned Sharjah, we tried geolocating it and identified the exact location in Muwaileh Commercial, Industrial Area, Sharjah.

Comparison of the screenshots from the viral clip to images from Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps/Modified by Logically Facts)

The verdict

Several of the clips in the viral video were available online well before the recent floods in Dubai on April 15. Furthermore, we found that some clips do not show Dubai, only Sharjah and Russia. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.