Two Floods, One Disaster
Every storm now brings two floods: torrents of water and torrents of misinformation. During the monsoon rains that submerged communities in India and Pakistan in August 2025, social media brimmed with dramatic videos of trains vanishing under rivers, vans swept away, and clouds bursting like bombs. Many viewers shared and donated in good faith, assuming they were witnessing real rescue scenes.
Few realised they were watching an elaborate collage of AI-generated clips and recycled footage.
The Viral Clips That Weren't What They Seemed
The AI-Engineered Train Disaster
A widely shared video showed a train plunging into the Ganga River near Patna, with passengers clinging to submerged carriages and onlookers crying for help. The clip looked authentic enough to amass millions of views.
Yet its creator later admitted to using AI tools like Google Veo and Grok, combined with Premiere Pro, to stitch it together. The Instagram account that first posted the clip even labeled itself an "AI Video Creator." Careful viewers noted telltale glitches, distorted text on the train and unnatural water movement. Despite these clues, social media users reacted as if a real train had crashed, with many rushing to donate to supposed relief efforts.
Misplaced Tragedy from Iran
Another viral clip showed a green van being carried away by raging floodwaters, with claims it was from Lahore, Pakistan. In reality, the video came from a July 2022 flood in Iran's Razavi Khorasan province.
A reverse-image search traced the footage back to a 2022 report about thirteen passengers caught between villages, seven died in that accident. The clip resurfaced in 2025 alongside hashtags like #Lahore and #IndiaFloods, fooling donors and heightening panic about current conditions.
A Cloudburst That Was Really a Microburst
A spectacular timelapse of dark clouds dumping rain on a city was shared as evidence of a sudden "cloudburst" in Swat, Pakistan. Fact-checkers found the video was actually a 2020 microburst recorded near Perth Airport in Australia.
The footage, originally posted by photographer Kane Artie with a watermark, has been recycled in claims about floods in Spain, Bangalore, and now Pakistan. The striking imagery made it easy to misrepresent as a current disaster.
Two Techniques, One Goal
These three clips illustrate the two main techniques flooding our feeds:
AI Fabrication: Synthetic videos that mimic reality with increasing realism. As tools become more sophisticated, the line between generated and genuine becomes harder to detect.
Contextual Recycling: Real footage from past events reframed as breaking news. This technique exploits our emotional response to urgent situations when we're less likely to scrutinize details.
Both exploit the urgency of disaster coverage, when audiences are primed to act fast rather than verify first.
When Fake Footage Meets Real Fundraisers
The trouble doesn't end with confusion, it ends with money. AI-generated disaster videos often appear alongside donation links or appeals to support flood victims. During these 2025 South Asian floods, the fake train and van videos were used to solicit funds that never reached those in need.
The practice echoes earlier scams. After Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton hit Florida in 2024, scammers circulated AI-generated photos of stranded children and pets to solicit donations. One viral image showed a young girl with her puppy, while others depicted dogs on rooftops and people wading through chest-deep water.
During California's Tropical Storm Hilary in 2023, a viral video purporting to show LA Metro flooding was actually taken at an earthquake-themed ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Another widely shared clip of commuters wading through waist-deep water in a New York City subway station, circulated during the 2023 floods, was actually from Tropical Storm Elsa in 2021.
These misattributions build on a long tradition of disaster hoaxes. Remember that photo of a shark swimming down a flooded highway that resurfaces with every major flood? It's been repeatedly debunked since 2011, yet still goes viral. Such fakes predate AI but demonstrate how compelling visuals spread faster than corrections.
Cybersecurity experts note that criminals have been exploiting disasters since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but AI has made such schemes exponentially more convincing.
The Erosion of Trust
Misleading footage doesn't just siphon money, it erodes the foundation of disaster response:
Victims of actual floods must now compete with vivid fakes for attention and donations
Donors grow wary of giving to any relief effort, fearing their compassion will be weaponized
First responders waste precious resources investigating fictional emergencies
Media outlets struggle to verify footage in real-time, slowing critical information flow
How to Stay Afloat in a Sea of Synthetic Storms
While generative AI amplifies the problem, there are practical ways to navigate the flood of fake content:
Look for Anomalies
AI videos often contain warped hands, distorted text, or inconsistent lighting. In the Patna train video, the train cars had gibberish text and the water moved unnaturally. Trust that feeling when something seems "off."
Check the Source
Many fake clips come from accounts that openly advertise themselves as AI creators or meme pages. A quick profile check can save you from spreading fiction.
Use Reverse Search Tools
Free tools can trace keyframes to earlier uploads. Simple reverse searches revealed the van footage was from 2022 and the cloudburst from 2020.
Donate Wisely
Only donate through reputable charities and official disaster-relief organizations. Be suspicious of donation links that appear alongside viral videos—legitimate relief organizations rarely operate through random social media posts.
Document the Details
When sharing disaster content, include verifiable details: specific locations, dates, and sources. This helps others fact-check and prevents the spread of misinformation.
The Real Danger: When We Stop Believing
In a world saturated with synthetic media, seeing is no longer believing. Each fake flood or hurricane video chips away at our collective willingness to trust genuine images. When the next disaster strikes, whether earthquake, wildfire, or typhoon, will viewers act swiftly to help, or will skepticism delay aid?
That's the real danger: not just that we'll believe something false, but that we'll hesitate to believe anything at all. The pause between seeing and believing might cost lives when seconds count.
Building a More Resilient Response
The solution isn't to stop caring or to become cynical. It's to become smarter about how we consume and share disaster content. Organisations, platforms, and individuals all have roles to play:
Social platforms need better systems for flagging and removing synthetic disaster content
News organisations must balance speed with verification
Relief organisations should establish verified channels for donations
Individuals can learn to spot synthetic content and think before sharing
Moving Forward
As AI tools become more sophisticated, distinguishing real disasters from synthetic ones will only get harder. But awareness is the first step. By understanding how these deceptions work, whether through AI generation or contextual manipulation, we can better protect ourselves and ensure help reaches those who truly need it.
At Mymmic, we're building tools to detect and flag AI-generated content, because the stakes are highest when lives and livelihoods are on the line. Truth matters most in moments of crisis, when the difference between real and fake can mean the difference between help arriving in time or not at all.
