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This video shows flooding in Poland, not in Spain
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The clips in this video are not from recent floods in Spain. They show flooding caused by storm Boris in September in Poland.
Flash floods devastated Spain’s Valencia area a couple of weeks ago. Now, flood alerts are being issued for other regions, including Catalonia and Andalucía.
A Nov. 10 Facebook post claims to show flood damage in Spain. It says "Flooding in Barcelona catalonia Valencia almeria Valencia spain amposta montsia catalonia Tarragona Espagne Espana." A Facebook account called Disasters21, which regularly shares videos and images of natural disasters, shared the video of different clips of flooding.
The video was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
These clips are not from the floods that began in Spain Oct. 29 because of DANA, a meteorological system that destabilizes air masses and can trigger intense rain. At least 215 people have died.
Instead, the video shows the September floods in Central Europe. There, a storm called Boris destroyed homes, rivers burst their banks and thousands evacuated because of flooding, Reuters reported. The storm killed at least 17 people, including in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Austria, according to CNN.
Clip of cars and objects being carried by water
(Screenshot from Facebook post.)
On Sept. 26, an Albanian news site posted this clip on Instagram. The post’s caption said the flooding happened in Poland. The text on the video also says "Lądek-Zdrój, Poland."
Clip of street flooding with a yellow building in the background
(Screenshot from Facebook post.)
The Facebook post includes this clip that comes from a TikTok account that shares posts of natural disasters. That TikTok account shared the clip Sept. 19, saying it is also from the Polish town Lądek-Zdrój.
Featured Fact-check
Clip of house being washed away
(Screenshot from Facebook post.)
The Facebook video’s third clip is also from September flooding in Poland.
A TikTok account posted the clip Sept. 24, with a text that Google Translate said was in Polish, reading "Flood Stronie Śląskie 15/09/2024." Stronie Śląskie is a town in Poland that flooded in September, Reuters and Euronews reported.
Clip of a street completely flooded by water
(Screenshot from Facebook post.)
One of the last clips is also not from Spain. A TikTok account shared it Sept. 15, two months before the Spanish flooding. Google Translate identified the text in the video as Polish. One of the post’s hashtags said Głuchołazy, one of the Polish towns the September storm affected.
PolitiFact could not identify the location of the video’s last clip.
The Facebook post’s clips don’t show flooding in Spain; they show flooding in Poland. We rate the post False.
PolitiFact Staff Writer Maria Briceño contributed to this report.
RELATED: No, this video doesn’t show floods in Valencia, Spain. It’s from other disasters in Europe
Our Sources
Facebook, Post, Nov. 10, 2024
Facebook, Disasters21 profile, accessed Nov. 13, 2024
Reuters, What caused deadly floods in Spain? The impact of DANA explained, Nov. 4, 2024
BBC, Spain braces for torrential rain as new weather system reaches Med coast, Nov. 12, 2024
PolitiFact, No, this video doesn’t show floods in Valencia, Spain. It’s from other disasters in Europe, Nov. 8, 2024
The Associated Press, What to know about the unprecedented floods that killed more than 200 in Spain, Nov. 7, 2024
NBC News, Flash flooding leaves at least 51 dead in Spain, Oct. 30, 2024
EuroNews, Vídeo. Evacuaciones masivas en Europa central por las fuertes inundaciones, Sept. 19, 2024
TikTok, Video by czujny777, Sept. 15, 2024
El País, All the drama of Spain’s flash floods, contained in one street: ‘Deaths could have been avoided’, Nov. 11, 2024
Reuters, Floods claim more lives as torrential rain pounds central Europe, Sept. 15, 2024
World Meteorological Organization, Devastating rainfall hits Spain in yet another flood-related disaster, Oct. 31, 2024
Instagram, Post by Tetova News, Sept. 26, 2024
Reuters, In pictures: Poland begins cleanup after historic flooding, Sept. 20, 2024
Reuters, Floods claim more lives as torrential rain pounds central Europe, Sept. 15, 2024
CNN, At least 17 killed in floods as a month’s worth of rain pounds central Europe, Sept. 16, 2024
Reuters, In a flood-hit Polish town, residents try to piece their lives back together, Sept. 18, 2024
TikTok, Tntv24 profile, accessed Nov. 13, 2024
TikTok, Post by tntv24, Sept. 19, 2024
TikTok, Post by mariusz.hajduk, Sept. 24, 2024
Reuters, Residents of Polish town hit by flood hope to make homes liveable by winter, Sept. 22, 2024
EuroNews, Floods devastate Polish town of Stronie Śląskie, Sept. 17, 2024
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This video shows flooding in Poland, not in Spain
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