Similar images were reshared on Facebook here and here along with the same claim, garnering around 55,000 views.
But the video was filmed during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Hurricane Ian
AFP has previously debunked reports falsely claiming the same circulating fragment was from Hurricane Helene, which hit Florida in September.
The original footage was published on YouTube on September 29, 2022 by Max Olson – a self-described “storm chaser” – based on a Google reverse image search (archived link).
According to the title of the video, a 15-foot storm surge is seen during Hurricane Ian.
One of the most powerful storms to hit the United States, Ian flattened entire neighborhoods and knocked out power lines and bridges when the storm hit Florida’s southwestern coast in late September 2022 (archived link).
Wind-driven storm surges and immense downpours flooded even inland neighborhoods, killing dozens of people.
“Our surge probe captured the heartbreaking evolution of a massive storm surge in Fort Myers Beach, Florida,” the YouTube video caption read.
Olson posted the “complete, unedited” version of the 2022 footage to his YouTube channel in August 2023 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the fake video (left) and the YouTube video from Olson’s account (right):
A review of Olson’s YouTube channel shows a history of uploading witness footage of tornadoes and hurricanes in the United States.
The American television news program Good Morning America and The Washington Post newspaper published the same images attributed to Olson in 2022 (archived links here and here).
AFP geolocated the video to Estero Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Florida using the 2022 Google Maps Street View below (archived link).
AFP has debunked other falsely circulated videos about Hurricane Milton here, here and here.
