A photo shared on Facebook allegedly shows a dam breaking due to the force of Cyclone Freddy, which struck Mozambique and Madagascar in 2023. 

Verdict: False

The video is miscaptioned. The video actually depicts a tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 and is unrelated to Cyclone Freddy.

Fact Check: 

Cyclone Freddy is on course to hit Mozambique a second time after its initial landfall two weeks ago, according to CNN. At 31 days and counting, the storm has broken a world record for tropical storm longevity, The Washington Post reported.

A Facebook video allegedly shows a dam wall breaking due to the recent impact of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique. The video shows water rushing into a residential area, pushing cars, wires and structures.

“Mozambique dam wall broke 5hours ago …” the post reads (RELATED: No, This Video Does Not Show Flooding From China’s Three Gorges Dam)

This video is miscaptioned, however.  The same video was uploaded to YouTube in March 2021.  “At 2:46 pm on March 11, 2011, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0, the largest ever recorded in Japan, occurred off the Tohoku coast,” the description reads. “A huge tsunami surged and caused enormous damage, including the death of 15,899 people nationwide.”

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan in 2011, prompting a tsunami that struck the coastline of Japan and killed about 18,500 people in total, according to Britannica.

This is not the first time misinformation involving a cyclone has spread online. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim purporting to show the landfall of the recent Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand.