Claim: A video of Sierra Leone, a flood scene in the Bo district, has gone viral on Facebook.
Verdict: False! The findings reveal that the video is generated by AI and does not depict actual flooding in Sierra Leone's BO district.
Full text
Recent videos shared on Facebook page by name Lucky World As of July 31, 2025, over 2,400 likes! , over 160 comments, and about 30 strains became a virus.
The visual content, combined with dramatic background voiceover and digitally rendered water movement, triggered a mixed reaction online. While some users expressed concern and sympathy, others questioned the authenticity of the clip.
One Facebook user, Sidebar BarryCommented in the local Pidgin dialect, “You're lucky enough to lie to mom.” The post is not true. “meanwhile, Ibrahim Vandy, Another Facebook user also commented: “This is not Bo City.”
In particular, this video was posted by two Instagram users, as you can see here and here. Another social media user on Tiktok posted here too. As you can see here and here, the same video appeared on Facebook several times, and as we saw here, it also appeared on YouTube.
Considering the increased spread of visuals generated by AI, dubawa We looked into the video to determine its authenticity.
verification
In close analysis, our researchers found that the video contains multiple features of visuals generated by AI.
Water movements show unrealistic physics and cannot interact naturally with surrounding objects such as vehicles and buildings, but instead appear to be layered and surreal. Various elements of the image, including buildings, trees and people, show digital warping and unnatural symmetry, especially at the edges of the frame.
Furthermore, the lighting and textures contradict the actual flood scene. The sky remains unusually transparent and static, with reflections on the surface being exaggerated or completely missing.
A review of video metadata shows that there are no timestamps or geotags to verify connection to BO, further strengthening the conclusion that footage is most likely to be artificially generated.
As can be seen here, when researchers conducted a Google reverse image search, the results showed that the video was being posted by multiple social media users.
A similar reverse image search using Tineye did not obtain real-world matches or media reports from trusted outlets for BO flooding scenes during this period.
Additionally, official reports published by the Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency, the National Disaster Management Agency, or the BO District Council indicated that there had been a flood incident in the BO District.
Gabriel Kpaka, deputy director and business director of Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency (SLME), told Dubawa there have been no reports of significant rainfall or flooding in BO at any time this year.
“During that time, there were no weather conditions that could cause flooding in the area,” Kpaka said.
Speaking to Dubawa, BO law student and resident Joseph Sandi also dismissed the flood claim.
“I live here and attended on June 6th. There were no flooding or unusual weather conditions. This claim does not reflect what actually happened in our community,” Sandy said.
Also, in support of Kpaka, which supports Ivan Vandi, communications officer of BO District Council, the council confirmed that it had not received any reports or emergency warnings regarding the flood. “The videos in circulation are misleading and do not reflect the terrestrial reality of BO,” he said.
Our researchers also contacted Mohamed Barr, Communications Director at the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
“There were no reports of BO floods or related incidents. It's important for the public to rely on verified sources before circulating amazing information,” said the NDMA director.
To further verify the accuracy of the claims, BO's recent weather data sourced from the weather channel also exposed the claims.
Conclusion
Viral videos showing flood incidents in BO are AI generated and therefore false! It does not reflect confirmed flood incidents in the district.
