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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke February 3, 2025

No, this video doesn’t show a North Carolina dam breaking Sept. 28, 2024

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  • Footage in this video comes from places such as the Czech Republic and India. It doesn’t show a purported dam breaking in North Carolina in September 2024.

A dramatic video purporting to show a dam breaking in North Carolina on Sept. 28, 2024, uses footage from around the world to show a scene that never happened in the Tar Heel State. 

"Dam breaks in North Carolina right now," text says over the video. "September 28, 2024."

A Jan. 14 Facebook post sharing the video said, "Dam failure in North Carolina causes unprecedented flooding right now," and used hashtags including "hurricanehelene." Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, 2024.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Hurricane Helene’s heavy rainfall led to emergency evacuations Sept. 27, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina, after officials warned that a "dam failure was imminent" there. 

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The Lake Lure Dam survived, though the storm damaged the town

But the Facebook video shows none of this. 

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Clues abound that the clips in the video are from elsewhere. Among them: foreign license plates, a sign for a hotel in the Czech Republic and a sign for a school in India

Reverse-image searches revealed that one of the clips shows July 2024 flooding in the Philippines; another shows more flooding in September 2024 the Czech Republic.

We rate claims this video shows a dam breaking Sept. 28, 2024, in North Carolina False.

 

Our Sources

Facebook post, Jan. 14, 2025

The Weather Channel, Barges Slam Into Bridge Amid Heavy Flooding, July 31, 2024

Kurzycz, Extrémní povodeň se v neděli ráno valí Českou Vsí na Jesenicku (video), Sept. 15, 2024

WCNC, Lake Lure, the NC town decimated by Helene, is an iconic filming site, Oct. 1, 2024

The Town of Lake Lure, Hurricane Helene Summary Memo, visited Jan. 31, 2025

WXII, Lake Lure dam failure prompts urgent evacuations as flash flood emergency threatens area, Sept. 27, 2024

WBTV, Dam failure ‘imminent’ at Lake Lure, residents urged to evacuate immediately, Sept. 27, 2024

Hotel Praděd website, visited Jan. 31, 2025

SADHVI ANAND JYOTI PUBLIC SCHOOL website, visited Jan. 31, 2025

 

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No, this video doesn’t show a North Carolina dam breaking Sept. 28, 2024

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