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Claim: A video of a flooding scene in Bo District, Sierra Leone, has gone viral on Facebook.
Verdict: False! Findings reveal that the video is AI-generated and does not depict an actual flooding in the Bo District of Sierra Leone.
Full Text
A recent video shared by a Facebook page named Lucky World has gone viral with over 2,400 likes, more than 160 comments, and about 30 shares as of July 31, 2025. The caption claims the video shows a flooding scene in Bo, a prominent district in southern Sierra Leone.
The visual content, combined with dramatic background voice-over and digitally rendered water movements, triggered mixed reactions online. While some users expressed concern and sympathy, others questioned the clip’s authenticity.
One Facebook user, Saidu Barrie, commented in the local Pidgin dialect, “U too lie mama luckily,” meaning the post is not true.” Meanwhile, Ibrahim Vandi, another Facebook user, also commented: “This is not Bo city.”
Notably, this video was posted by two Instagram users, as seen here and here. Another social media user on TikTok also posted it here. The same video appeared on Facebook multiple times, as seen here and here, and had also surfaced on YouTube, as seen here.
Given the increasing spread of AI-generated visuals, DUBAWA investigated the video to determine its authenticity.
Verification
Upon close analysis, our researcher discovered that the video contains multiple features of AI-generated visuals.
The water movements display unrealistic physics, failing to interact naturally with surrounding objects like vehicles or buildings, but instead appearing layered and surreal. Various elements in the footage, including buildings, trees, and people, exhibit digital warping and unnatural symmetry, particularly at the frame’s edges.
Additionally, the lighting and texture are inconsistent with an actual flood scene: the sky remains unusually clear and static, and reflections on water surfaces are either exaggerated or entirely missing.
A review of the video’s metadata shows no timestamps or geo-tags to verify its connection to Bo, further reinforcing the conclusion that the footage is most likely artificially generated.
When our researcher conducted a Google reverse image search, the results showed that the video had been posted by multiple social media users, as seen here.
A similar reverse image search using TinEye yielded no real-world matches or media reports from credible outlets about any flooded scene in Bo during the period.
Additionally, no official reports publicly available from the Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency, National Disaster Management Agency, or Bo District Council indicated that there was any flooding incident in Bo District.
Gabriel Kpaka, the Deputy Director and Head of Operations at the Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency (SLMet), told DUBAWA that there were no reports of significant rainfall or flooding in Bo at any time this year.
“There were no weather conditions during that time that could have caused flooding in the area,” Kpaka said.
Speaking with DUBAWA, Joseph Sandi, a law student and resident of Bo, also dismissed the flooding claim.
“I live here and was present on June 6th. There was no flooding or unusual weather conditions. This claim does not reflect what actually happened in our community,” Sandi stated.
Also corroborating Kpaka, Ivan Vandy, the Communications Officer for the Bo District Council, confirmed that the council has not received any reports or emergency alerts about flooding. “The video in circulation is misleading and does not reflect the reality on the ground in Bo,” he noted.
Our researcher further contacted Mohamed Bah, the Director of Communications at the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), who emphasised that no alerts or emergency responses were issued for Bo recently.
“There were no reports of flooding or related incidents in Bo. It’s important that the public relies on verified sources before circulating alarming information,” the NDMA director said.
To further verify the accuracy of the claim, recent weather data for Bo sourced from The Weather Channel also debunked the claim.
Conclusion
The viral video allegedly showing a flooding incident in Bo is AI-generated and thus FALSE! It does not reflect any verified flood incident in the district.
