A Russian news agency has shared fake images showing Walt Disney World Orlando flooded following Hurricane Milton.
The images shared via Ria Novosti’s Telegram channel, appear to be have been generated using AI.
They appear to show Disney World covered in water, including a deep lake in front of the resort’s world-famous pink Cinderella castle.
The photos have been widely shared on social media.
“Hurricane Milton has flooded Disney World in Orlando,” wrote one user. “Very sad.”
Russian state-owned news agency Ria Novosti also shared the images on its Telegram channel, writing: “Social media users post photos of Disneyland in Florida flooded by Hurricane Milton.”
Hurricane Milton has flooded Disney World in Orlando. Very sad.#HurricaneMilton #DisneyWorld #Florida pic.twitter.com/O2iCY8Un78
— BoomBoxBro (@BoomBoxBro_) October 10, 2024
But many social media users have pointed out apparent errors in the images.
“Apparently [Hurricane Milton] wiped out a bunch of buildings and a statue also,” wrote one X user.
“AI Generated, and pretty badly at that,” wrote another.
RIA does not appear to be the first source of the images, which began circulating in the morning on X.However the sharing compounded disinformation being spread online about the impact of Hurricane Milton.The storm barrelled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after ploughing across Florida, where it knocked out power to more than three million customers and whipped up a barrage of tornadoes. The storm caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.
The system made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa.
Damage was widespread, and authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people.
In Orlando, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Sea World remained closed on Thursday.
Orlando has been hit by severe winds and rain, but there have been no reports of flooding at the theme park.
Disney and Ria Novosti have been approached by The Standard.
