Recent hurricanes devastated U.S. communities, but this isn’t an authentic photo of a rescued child

A distressed-looking child, hair wet and wearing a life jacket, holds a sodden puppy aboard a boat in what appears to be a flooded street. This image that has tugged on some social media users’ heartstrings after the recent U.S. hurricanes. 

"Heartbreaking," text over the image says. "Please keep North Carolina and Tennessee in your prayers. Don’t act like you didn’t see this." 

A Threads post sharing the image was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

(Screengrab from Threads)

A reverse-image search turns up not news coverage or other credible sources sharing the image or story of this child, but evidence to undermine its power: the photo is bogus. 

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stated on September 25, 2024 in a post

Video shows footage of Hurricane Helene

The image started spreading on social media following Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the Southeast in late September.

It was one of several images of the child and puppy that drew clicks, but even a cursory review of the pictures reveals discrepancies. 

In the Threads post’s image, the child is wearing a shirt that appears blue or purple. The dog is golden-colored with dark markings around its ears and snout. The boat’s inside is green. 

In the other image, the child wears a shirt that appears black. The child’s dog is  golden-colored and lacks the dark markings around its ears and snout. The child also has a malformed hand, which is a red flag signaling fabricated images. 

A third image showed the child in yet another boat, in a sleeveless shirt. The child holds  a dog with still different markings.

We rate claims this is an authentic photo of a child during recent U.S. hurricanes False.