Typhoon Dolphin triggered a top-level alert in China in August 2026, prompting hundreds of flight cancellations and over a million evacuations, but circulating footage of strong winds knocking down a billboard is old. It was filmed in Fujian and circulated in July 2018 posts about Typhoon Maria slamming the southeastern province.
“Typhoon Dolphin is pretty fierce,” says a Douyin post written in simplified Chinese on August 9.
The clip shows strong winds whipping trees and heavy rain pouring as a roadside billboard topples.
Multiple X users based in China shared the footage with similar claims. The video was also shared in Korean on Threads.
Screenshot of the false Douyin post taken on August 12 with a red X added by AFP
The posts circulated as Typhoon Dolphin struck Zhejiang province in early August, while also affecting nearby Shanghai and Fujian ( archived link).
State broadcaster CCTV reported that the tropical storm brought nearly 1,400 flight cancellations in Shanghai and about 270 in Zhejiang.
The port city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang relocated more than 900,000 people, CCTV said.
Authorities also evacuated more than 150,000 people in Fujian province and more than 200,000 people in Shanghai, the Xinhua news agency reported.
However, the circulating video does not show the impact of the recent storm.
A reverse image search of its keyframes traced the clip to a Douyin post on July 11, 2018 by state-owned news outlet Haixia Net ( archived link).
“Typhoon Maria’s power cannot be underestimated!” reads the simplified Chinese caption.
The footage was taken in Xiapu county in Ningde, Fujian, according to the news organisation.
Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the old Douyin video
AFP confirmed the location of the video by comparing it with Google Maps imagery of the Gang Te Bridge near Funing Culture Park in Xiapu county ( archived link).
Corresponding elements include the billboard itself and an electric pole visible in the footage.
Screenshot comparison between false post (L) and Google Maps image of the same location in Xiapu County, with similar elements highlighted by AFP
On the same day Haixia Net posted the video, the local meteorological observatory issued a No. 8 warning for Typhoon Maria at around 9am local time (0100GMT) ( archived link).
AFP checked the weather map for Xiapu county at around 11am, which confirmed the presence of a tropical storm at that time ( archived link).
Screenshot of the wind speed map on Ventusky for Xiapu County at around 11am on July 11, 2018
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to typhoons in China.
