money Fact check: Viral image is digital art, not a picture of Hurricane Ian
The claim: Image shows Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian, one of the strongest storms in U.S. history, hit Florida's southwestern coast on Sept. 28, causing mass flooding and leaving more than two million in the state without power.
More: Ian regains hurricane strength as it targets South Carolina; Florida death toll mounts: Live updates
Images of the storm and the damage it has inflicted are now circulating on social media.
One such image shared on Facebook more than 1,600 times in 18 hours claims to show the historic storm looming just off the Florida coast.
"Incredible shot of IAN !" reads the Sept. 28 post's caption. "I have no idea who the photo credit goes to."
But the image does not show Hurricane Ian. It's not even a photo. It is a digital creation made by an artist.
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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.
Image is digital art created in 2019
The image is not a photo taken of Hurricane Ian. Rather, it is digital art created by Brent Shavnore, who confirmed he created it in an email to USA TODAY. A nearly identical image can be found under the "artwork" section of his website.
Shavnore said he created the viral image in 2019. He first shared it on Instagram in an April 2019 post but has reshared it several times since then, most recently in December 2020.
Shavnore said he believes his artwork was confused with Hurricane Ian because Getty Images recently published a photo of him running from the storm.
The same image was mistaken for Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an image shows Hurricane Ian. The image is digital artwork that was created in 2019.
Our fact-check sources:
Brent Shavnore, Sept. 29, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Brent Shavnore portfolio, accessed Sept. 29, Brent Shavnore - Artwork
Brent Shavnore, Dec. 22, 2020, Instagram post
Brent Shavnore, April 12, 2019, Instagram post
Brent Shavnore, May 19, 2019, Instagram post
Getty Images, Sept. 28, SARASOTA: Hurricane Ian Slams Into West Coast Of Florida
TruthBeTold, Sept. 2, 2019, Tweet
The Detroit News, Sept. 6, 2019, Fake news: Widely shared photo of cyclone threatening Florida fake
USA TODAY, Sept. 29, Ian regains hurricane strength as it targets South Carolina; Florida death toll mounts: Live updates
USA TODAY, Sept. 29, Hurricane Ian one of strongest storms in US history; 2M in Florida without power; 911 callers stranded in homes
USA TODAY, Sept. 28, 'Apocalyptic' photos show Cuba plunged into darkness after Hurricane Ian triggers outage
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Viral image is digital art, not Hurricane Ian
