A photograph in an Oct. 1, 2022, tweet authentically shows windows holding back floodwaters from Hurricane Ian.
On Oct. 1, 2022, a Twitter user posted a photograph of three unbroken glass windows supposedly withstanding the weight of heavy flooding from Hurricane Ian. The photo showed floodwaters several feet high with the tops of palm trees visible above the surface. The late September storm led to massive devastation throughout the state of Florida as well as quite a few online rumors, such as the purported sightings of a shark and an orca being spotted in flooded streets.
The Twitter caption for the picture of the glass windows and flooding claimed that it was captured in the city of Naples in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. The account’s bio showed the name Dixie Whatley as well as a website for Dixie Whatley Studios. It’s unclear if Whatley took the picture or if a family member, friend, or other acquaintance passed it along to her. We reached out to Whatley and will update our story soon. However, as it stands, we found little reason, if any, to doubt the photo’s authenticity.
Whatley also posted the photo on Instagram with the caption, “We weathered the storm in Naples, Florida. This is my favorite photo, through the window of our social room going out to the pool. We are right on the beach, and stayed in our top floor (14th) condo through the storm. Had quite the birds-eye view.”
We were able to connect the dots between Whatley’s publicly-available mailing address with elements from her Instagram post, such as the “social room” and her mentioning of the fact that she lives in a multi-story building “right on the beach.” All of this appeared to line up.
Some users responded that the same picture had previously showed up hours earlier on Reddit in the subreddit r/Damnthatsinteresting. This appeared to be true. However, this did not mean that Whatley’s social media posts were untrue, as the picture may have been posted elsewhere by her or someone she knew before she posted the photo to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
The Reddit post had a title that read, “Not the beautiful Florida view anyone imagined! Courtesy of Hurricane Ian.” Reddit user u/dragracedave, the person who made the post, also said in a comment, “It is an absolute mess down here! This is the worst storm I have ever experienced in this area by far, it’s going to take months until everything is finally sorted out :(.” We also reached out to u/dragracedave on Reddit.
The rating of this fact check will be updated when we’re able to confirm its origin with original poster. However, again, this picture appears to be real.
We would be remiss to not mention that the picture of the windows purportedly holding back the floodwaters from Hurricane Ian was also later posted to the r/photoshopbattles subreddit. The subreddit challenges users to put their design skills to work with Adobe Photoshop. The top-voted altered photo of the flooding added an alligator (or crocodile), as if the animal was about to come through the windows. The second-place submission showed a joke on the American South’s love of sweet tea.
Sources:
AirborneRanger122. “PsBattle: These Windows Holding Back Water from Hurricane Ian.” r/Photoshopbattles via Reddit.com, 1 Oct. 2022, https://ift.tt/XECcPjb.
@bothcoasts. Twitter, 1 Oct. 2022, https://twitter.com/bothcoasts/.
dragracedave. “Not the Beautiful Florida View Anyone Imagined! Courtesy of Hurricane Ian.” r/Damnthatsinteresting via Reddit.com, 30 Sept. 2022, https://ift.tt/aE9JU4m.
Hageman, Samantha. “Everything You Need to Know About Hurricane Windows.” Pella.com, 15 Aug. 2021, https://ift.tt/j8zqSL3. TinEye Reverse Image Search. https://tineye.com/.
Is This Photo of Windows Holding Back Hurricane Ian Floodwaters Real?
Source: Kapit Pinas
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