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Hurricane Hilary: The truth behind the viral video of surfers riding massive storm waves in California

Tropical Storm Hilary hit California on August 21 after wreaking havoc in Mexico

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA: Tropical Storm Hilary has been continuing to devastate California after severely affecting Mexico earlier Sunday, August 20.

The flash floods because of the hurricane have reportedly created havoc among the residents with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria saying, as per CNN, “We are not used to this level of precipitation, generally.”

Amid the difficult time, a video has gone viral on Twitter, claiming how surfers were doing stunts in the sea during Hurricane Hillary. The caption of the footage said, “Crazy video footage of wipeouts from surfers in Newport Beach, California during Hurricane Hillary."

The post ended with hashtags, like “#HuracanHilary #HurricaneHilary #HurricaneHillary #Hurricane #BajaCaliforniaSur #Baja #SoCal #Hilary #Hillary #SanDiego.”

What is the truth behind Hurricane Hilary viral video of surfers?
At first, the video convinced people that it was the scene from Hurricane Hilary. A user even went on to write, “I want to be this stress-free in life. Dude is surfing while California is flooding and earthquakes are going on LMAO.”

The second user posted, “That’s dangerous!!!” However, it became clear that the clip was actually from May and not from the time of the natural calamity.

Was the video taken during Hurricane Hilary?

The video was not taken during Hurricane Hilary. It was, however, taken from the Instagram page of Surfline — a company and website based in Huntington Beach, California that specializes in surf forecasting and surf reports.

The original video’s caption said, “How big was Wedge today? (Ask @sage_burke!) How big will it be tomorrow and into the weekend at your spot? Check your local forecast. 🎥: @jamesferrell_”

Twitter claims Hurricane Hilary surf video is fake

Below the Twitter video, the social media site mentioned, “Readers added context they thought people might want to know.”

“This video was posted in May of 2023,” it noted, before giving the link to the original footage. Several people also tweeted as a user shared, “Bro! This is not during #Hilary lol #flooding #HurricaneHilary #HurricaneHillary #Nevada #BajaCalifornia #Weatheremergency #SanDiego #SoCal #FlashFloods #TropicalStormHilary #Hilary.”

Another one said, “Not during the hurricane at all - ok.” The third user stated, “This footage was almost 2 months ago. Not now and not hurricane Hillary.” "I swear I’ve gotta mute every blue nowadays, posting videos with misleading captions smh," the fourth one added.

Meanwhile, Brian Ferguson, the deputy director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, reportedly said about the disaster, "We’re keeping a very close eye on our desert regions, east of San Diego and Los Angeles. Some parts of these areas may receive double their yearly amount of water in just a single day."