Does a video posted on TikTok show Hurricane Melissa as it is making landfall in Kingston, Jamaica? No, that's not true: These clips show storms which happened around the world, some fairly recently, and some years in the past. One clip remains unidentified, of the fifteen others, none shows Hurricane Melissa.
The miscaptioned video montage (archived here) was published by @newstoday77 on Oct. 27, 2025. It is captioned:
Hurricane ???? Melissa Cat 5 Kingston Jamaica with wind speed of 140 mph #tropical #melissa #hurricane #jamaica #category5
A screenshot of the video on TikTok is pictured below:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@newstoday77/video/7565869094474435871.)
Many of these video clips in the montage have been mislabeled in the past. This means that image search results are cluttered with false information. Lead Stories' verification effort was focused on finding out if these video clips existed before Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica. USA Today reports Melissa made landfall near New Hope, Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane at about 1 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2025.
Lead Stories endeavored to find the earliest example of the footage, first to rule out the possibility that they show Hurricane Melissa, and then (this was not needed) to verify if they do show Melissa. The verification process did not geolocate each scene, or match storm damage reports beyond confirming that a storm did occur at the named place on the stated date.
The opening scene (pictured above) shows a large green roof lifting off a building and blowing to the right. This video clip has been flipped. The original footage showing the roof blowing to the left, appears at 4 minutes, 30 seconds in a YouTube video posted on Nov. 3, 2020. The video's caption identifies the storm as Hurricane Zeta in Louisiana on Oct. 29, 2020.
The next clip (pictured below left) shows a chaotic urban scene flooded streets, downed trees and buses, delivery trucks and cars that appear to be pulled over or washed up haphazardly. This video clip was located at the start of another storm montage posted on TikTok by @angrynature7 on Oct. 17, 2025. This video has an orange text box with the caption:
A powerful Tornado tore through Kuala langat District Malaysia.
The @angrynature7 video contains several more clips which also appear in the mislabeled @newstoday77 video (pictured below); at 5 seconds, a window washer's platform swings from a high rise, at 34 seconds a tree falls, and at 39 seconds blue debris flies through the air. Lead Stories discovered this footage of the blue debris also appears at 38 seconds in another questionable storm footage montage posted on Facebook on March 16, 2025. In that video the blue debris footage is captioned:
Hurricane Helene Tropical Storm Landfall in Florida, USA September 25, 2024
(Image Source: Lead Stories composite image with screenshots from tiktok.com/@angrynature7/video/7562177677738757406.)
A video posted on Facebook on June 26, 2019 shows a patio table, a broom, and waste bin as the storm winds blow rain. The caption of the video translates to:
Terrifying video from Texas documents a violent rainstorm accompanied by strong downdraft winds.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from facebook.com/watch/?v=910044912668103.)
A neighborhood scene shows footage filmed from between two homes -- a tree has been uprooted in the yard (pictured below). This footage was posted by fox43.com on May 28, 2019, identifying this as the site of a tornado touchdown in Berks County, PA. The clip posted by Fox43 is longer than the clip within @newstoday77 montage, the footage also shows debris, such as roof shingles, flying overhead just before the person filming takes cover inside.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from fox43.com/article/news/local/contests/national-weather-service-tornado-touched-down-near-morgantown-berks-county/521-337a96f6-e2a7-45c3-adef-4e76eb893f91.)
A scene showing the roof blowing off a white building was posted on viralhog.com on Oct. 3, 2025 -- the caption mentions a Russian hurricane Lead Stories did not verify:
Occurred on September 19, 2025 / Anapa, Russia Info from Licensor: "A powerful hurricane destroyed the roof of the Golubaya Volna (transl. Blue Wave) sanatorium. Credit: @wer1ty6"
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from from viralhog.com/watch/file/396385414)
A scene of toppled motorbikes in driving rain (pictured below) appears in the sixth slide in an article posted by abplive.com and updated on Sept. 16, 2025. The caption under the photo reads:
Shanghai is rarely directly hit by strong typhoons. These storms usually strike southern China. Yagi, a devastating Category 4 typhoon, passed through southern Hainan province last week.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from abplive.com/photo-gallery/news/world-china-typhoon-bebinca-threatens-shanghai-city-powerful-storm-came-after-75-years-2784366.)
The next scene in the @newstoday77 montage shows a tree branch falling on a parked pickup truck. This video was originally posted on TikTok by @leo112881 on Aug. 27, 2025 and labeled Phoenix, AZ. There was a haboob which struck Phoenix on Aug. 26, 2025.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@leo112881/video/7543124546493205790.)
The next scene shows a red car in the bay of a mechanic's shop with a storm raging outside. This video was posted by @jvazep3 on Oct. 13, 2025. This TikTok account has posted other videos from the same garage. The storm video has the hashtags:
#arizona #rain #flooding #tempe
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@jvazep3/video/7560806048592841997.)
A photo of a Florida Texaco station damaged by Hurricane Michael appears on a Oct. 11, 2018 article from wkrg.com.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from wkrg.com/weather/this-hurricane-was-an-absolute-monster-florida-gov-says-emphasis-now-on-search-rescue.)
The next storm scene remains unidentified. It shows what looks like the entry and parking area of a resort with palm trees which has a name ending in the letters "arius".
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@newstoday77/video/7565869094474435871.)
Another clip shows yellow bollards between the sheltered sidewalk and road with streetlamps illuminating the torrential rain. The clip appears at 28 seconds in a video posted on YouTube on June 28, 2025 and is captioned:
June 27, 2025
Severe Thunderstorm Slams Fort Smith Area This Evening!
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from youtube.com/watch?v=5hwIZFOi46s.)
An urban scene of trash bins blowing out into the street was posted on TikTok by @albertopelaezoficial on June 26, 2024. The post's caption is translated from Spanish by TikTok:
Very aggressive passing storm in Madrid, Spain. #tormenta #caos #noticia #albertopelaeztv
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@albertopelaezoficial/video/7384722065435282721.)
A scene of cars parked during a night storm was posted on TokTok on Feb. 11, 2025 by @disasterworld3337. It is captioned:
Massive Rain in Sydney
11.Feb.2025
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@disasterworld3337/video/7470235445985594654.)
