Authorities issued flash flooding alerts for parts of eastern and southern Zhejiang after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to the region in August 2026, but footage circulating on social media purportedly showing the floods is more than a year old. The video previously circulated in June 2025, when Typhoon Wutip caused widespread flooding in southern China.
“Flooding in Wenzhou, China, has been ongoing for over 10 days, with an estimated death toll of at least 6,000,” says part of the traditional Chinese caption of an X video shared on August 16, 2026.
The video, which was shared by an account with more than 152,000 followers, appears to show a torrent of muddy water flowing through a town.
Screenshot of the false X post taken on August 18 with a red X added by AFP
The same footage was also shared elsewhere in similar X posts, as well as in multiple languages.
It circulated as Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to eastern China, triggered flash flood alerts, and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people ( archived here and here).
Natural disasters floods are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat, and the climate effects of El Nino have intensified the risks (archived here and here).
But the video circulating on social media does not show the impact of a flash flood in Zhejiang province, as posts claim.
Footage from 2025
A reverse image search on Chinese social media platforms using keyframes from the falsely shared video found the same footage was previously shared on Douyin on June 15, 2025 ( archived link).
In the comments section of the clip, the Douyin user says it was filmed on the same day — June 15, 2025 — in Jiayi Town, Guangdong province, about 1,152 kilometres (715.03 miles) from Wenzhou.
Shops signs and a building visible in the falsely shared footage correspond to Baidu Maps imagery from Jiayi Town ( archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and Baidu Maps imagery from Jiayi Town, with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP
The flooding occurred as Typhoon Wutip made landfall in the province on June 14, 2025, with flooding affecting much of Guangdong and the neighbouring Guangxi region forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate ( archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to flooding in China.