A viral video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, purports to show a grocery store that is underwater as a result of flooding in New York City in late September.
⚡🇺🇲 #USA – People grocery shopping in knee high water during the apocalyptic flooding in New York City today. #NewYorkFlood #NYC #flood #WeatherAlert pic.twitter.com/TokYZtxmdx
— X News Monitor (@xNewsMonitor) September 30, 2023
Verdict: False
The video shows flooding inside the Pak’nSave supermarket in Wairau, New Zealand in January 2023, according to TikTok and the New Zealand Herald, respectively.
Fact Check:
Twenty-eight people were rescued as a result of major flooding that hit New York City in late September, according to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, ABC News reported. There were no deaths reported following the flooding, Hochul said, according to the outlet.
“#USA – People grocery shopping in knee high water during the apocalyptic flooding in New York City today,” the X video, viewed over 300,000 times, purports.
The claim is false, however. The video, which originally stems from TikTok, shows flooding inside the Pak’nSave supermarket in Wairau, New Zealand, according to its caption. The video was posted on Jan. 27 of this year, also according to TikTok. (RELATED: Video Showing Flooding In New York Subway Is From 2021)
@stayhumblehustleh Flood at PAK’nSAVE in Wairau #flood #paknsave #newzealand #viral #wairauvalley ♬ original sound – Stay Humble Hustle Hard
Using the name of the supermarket, its location, and the date the video was posted, Check Your Fact conducted a keyword search and found a Feb. 2 article from the New Zealand Herald highlighting the floods at the Pak’nSave supermarket in the Wairau area of Auckland in late January 2023. According to the outlet, 80 people were trapped inside the supermarket due to the flooding, and the store closed temporarily so it could be cleaned, sanitized, and re-stocked.
Quinn Proctor, the owner and operator of the Wairau area Pak’nSave, described the flooding as having caused “significant damage” and “chaos,” the outlet indicated.
Likewise, Check Your Fact did not find the viral X video referenced in any credible news reports about the major flooding that impacted New York City in late September. In addition, the video neither appears on the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM)’s website nor its verified social media accounts.
Check Your Fact has contacted the New York City OEM and the New Zealand Herald for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.