A video went viral which claimed to show a section of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico collapsing under strong winds caused by Hurricane Hanna. The video was posted to Twitter by Yadith Valdez and has since gained over 4.6 million views. However, other Twitter users pointed out that the video may not actually show the border wall toppling during this hurricane.
Customs and Border Protection told Heavy in an emailed statement that the video is not accurate. The statement reads:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is not aware of any border wall panels falling over due to Hurricane Hanna hitting the Rio Grande Valley Sector this past weekend. The video circulating on social media appears to be from June 2020 when high winds caused several border wall panels that were pending additional anchoring to fall over at a construction site near Deming, New Mexico.
The original post containing the video in question has since been removed from Twitter:
Hanna is now considered a tropical depression after making landfall as a hurricane in Southern Texas along the Gulf Coast. The latest advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center indicates that far southeast Texas and northeast Mexico could experience heavy rain and dangerous flash flooding. The maximum sustained winds as per the 4 p.m. CT update were at around 35 mph with some stronger gusts.
There Were Some Doubts About the Authenticity of the Video When It Started Circulating
The post did not indicate which section of the wall had collapsed, but a local news article from Debate wrote that it occurred between Texas and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, near Ciudad Camargo. The video shows a few workers in high-visibility vests and hard hats watching as a section of the wall collapses under heavy rain and wind.
However, Nick Miroff, a Washington Post reporter, wrote on Twitter that Customs and Border Patrol officials indicated that the video does not show border wall panels toppling in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Miroff wrote, “Unclear where it was filmed, but based on desert terrain, daytime recording and style of bollards, I’m guessing these are images of a monsoon out west, prob Arizona.”
The video being widely shared of border wall panels falling over is not from RGV, a CBP official tells me. Unclear where it was filmed, but based on desert terrain, daytime recording and style of bollards, I’m guessing these are images of a monsoon out west, prob Arizona.
Miroff added that Hanna hit southern Texas at night, whereas the video shows daytime footage and he also added that the section of the wall around the Rio Grande Valley is on the river levee and not in the desert. He later mentioned that CBP officials in Arizona stated there have been no recent reports of a wall collapse.
CBP confirmed to Heavy that the video is not from Hurricane Hanna.
A Recent Video Showed the Partial Collapse of Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi, Texas, Due to Hurricane Hanna
Hurricane Hanna made landfall on Saturday, July 25, in the southeast of Texas near Baffin Bay, and winds knocked off a section of the Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi. News coverage of the pier’s destruction is available below:
There were other reports of damage due to the hurricane yesterday, including in Port Mansfield, Texas, and areas in Rockport, Texas. The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued a disaster declaration for 32 counties, the BBC reported.
“Any hurricane is an enormous challenge,” Abbott said Saturday. “This challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing that it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for Covid-19.”
President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday as it made landfall that his administration was “closely monitoring” the storm.
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