What was claimed
Footage shows two recent tornadoes in Florida.
Our verdict
False. This is an old clip of ‘twin tornadoes’ in Nebraska in 2014.
Footage shows ‘twin tornadoes’ in Nebraska in 2014, not recent scenes in Florida
10 October 2024
A video showing two tornado spouts has been shared online with the suggestion it shows recent scenes from Florida as the US state is hit by Hurricane Milton. But the video was actually filmed in Nebraska in 2014.
The clip shows someone driving towards two tornado spouts amid dark storm clouds. One post on X (formerly Twitter) with over one million views and 4,500 shares says: “Two Tornadoes It’s been reported multi-numerous Tornadoes today across Florida, estimates of over 50+ When has this ever happened before? [sic]”
Multiple Facebook posts also share the video with this caption.
A screenshot of the clip also features in a Mirror article published today, 10 October, with the headline: “Hurricane Milton sees multiple fatalities as hurricane triggers deadly tornadoes across Florida”. The screenshot’s caption claims that the image shows a tornado in St Lucie County in Florida, where multiple people have reportedly died following tornadoes in the area.
While Hurricane Milton has reportedly spawned multiple tornadoes across Florida, and caused a number of deaths, this clip predates recent events and actually shows ‘twin tornadoes’ in Nebraska in 2014.
The clip was shared in 2020 on X by a user who describes themself as a “Professional Storm chaser” with the caption saying: “Close encounter with a pair of tornadoes in ‘14 in NE [Nebraska].” An Instagram account with the same name shared the clip in July 2024 saying: “This was the terrifying and tragic day of the Pilger, Nebraska, twin EF4 tornadoes in 2014.”
Very similar footage of the two tornadoes was shared on YouTube on 16 June 2014, which says it shows “two significant tornadoes at once crossing US-275 east of the town of Pilger, Nebraska”, and also featured in a report published by The Guardian at the time.
Two people were reportedly killed by the 2014 tornadoes with many others injured.
Full Fact has contacted the Mirror about the miscaptioned screenshot, and we will update this article if we receive a response.
Miscaptioned videos can spread quickly online, especially during significant global news stories like this. It’s important to consider whether footage shows what it claims to before sharing it, and our guide offers some tips on how to verify videos yourself.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because this video shows tornadoes in Nebraska in 2014.