Heavy rain across Sri Lanka has resulted in rising water levels in many rivers around the country and has pushed the Department of Meteorology to issue flood and landslide warnings for several regions. Against that backdrop, a video claiming to show severe flooding in Nawalapitiya on 20th September spread quickly on social media, feeding very real fears about the rising Mahaweli.
Social Media Posts
The viral video post carried the caption “Heavy rain and flooding in Nawalapitiya 🇱🇰” and gave the location as Nawalapitiya, Pasbage Korale, Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, dated 20 September 2026, from early morning.
Below is another instance of the same clip getting widely shared.
The video and claims were circulated widely on social media on 20 and 21 September. The caption of the video clip claimed that heavy rains caused severe flooding in Nawalapitiya on 20 September 2026, displacing around 100 families and prompting flood warnings.
To confirm whether the clips accurately depict the reported flooding and affected areas, we decided to investigate.
Fact Check
Mainstream outlets reported that heavy rain and a rising Mahaweli River had left many homes in the low-lying parts of Nawalapitiya submerged on 20 September, and the flooding was reported here as well.
Around 100 families in areas under the Pasbage Korale Divisional Secretariat were reported to have been affected. Kithulgota, Labuwelkotuwa and Jayasundara Owita were said to be the worst hit. With the Mahaweli river continuing to rise, residents of low-lying areas near the river were advised to stay especially alert, as detailed in the viral video caption as well.
However, the specific video shared in that social-media post could not be found in any mainstream coverage.
On closer examination, we found that the clip had been stitched together from three separate videos.
The first clip is old August footage from Nawalapitiya
We converted frames from the first clip into stills and ran a reverse image search. This showed the clip had been posted online back in early August 2026.
We also found that the clip was filmed during the flooding that hit Nawalapitiya in August after heavy rain, and that several Facebook users had shared it at the time (here, here and here).
So while the footage is genuinely from Nawalapitiya, it records the early August 2026 flooding, not the events of 20 September.
The second clip is from flooding in Honduras, not Sri Lanka
The second clip had a voice speaking a language similar to Spanish in the background. When we ran a reverse image search on stills from it, we found it was filmed during flooding in the capital of Honduras on Saturday, 19 September 2026.
International media had also reported the flooding in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, after heavy rain that Saturday (19 September). See Tiempo and El Heraldo.
Only the third clip shows Nawalapitiya on 20 September
When we investigated the third clip, we found that it did show the Hangran Oya in flooding after the heavy rain of 20 September.
On that basis, only the final clip genuinely shows the Hangran Oya overflowing in Nawalapitiya during the 20 September heavy rain.
Local journalists confirmed only the final clip was recent
We contacted regional journalists in Nawalapitiya about the video and the flooding. They confirmed that the rising Mahaweli had indeed worsened flooding in the town’s low-lying areas after sustained heavy rain. They also confirmed that two of the clips in the video had nothing to do with the flooding on the 20th September, and that only the final clip showed the Hangran Oya overflowing.
Sri Lanka’s heavy-rain spell set to continue
The Department of Meteorology said a low-pressure area that had formed over the Andaman Sea in the Bay of Bengal could strengthen further over the next few days. It said this would not directly affect Sri Lanka, but that winds moving towards the system would keep the current rainy spell going over the south-western parts of the island.
Occasional showers or thundershowers were likely in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in the Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts, with falls of about 100mm at some places. Several spells of rain were expected in the North-Central Province and the Mannar district, and showers or thundershowers were likely after 2.00pm in the Uva Province and the Batticaloa and Ampara districts.
Fairly strong winds of 30 to 40 kmph were possible at times over the western slopes of the central hills, the North-Central and North-Western provinces and the Trincomalee, Hambantota and Matale districts. The Department urged the public to take precautions against the strong winds and lightning that can accompany thundershowers.
Meanwhile, the flood warning for the King Ganga and the Kuda Ganga sub-catchment of the Kalu Ganga was extended for a further 24 hours. The Irrigation Department advised people living near these rivers to stay alert, warned motorists on inner roads to take particular care, and asked everyone to keep watching river levels and take precautions. Newsfirst | Ada Derana | Hiru News
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Conclusion
Our investigation found that the video shared as showing severe flooding in Nawalapitiya on 20 September was created using separate clips. The first clip is a month-old footage from the flooding in the same Nawalapitiya are, and the second was filmed during flooding in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, on 19 September. Only the third clip genuinely showed the Hangran Oya overflowing in Nawalapitiya during the heavy rain of 20 September.
Regional journalists in Nawalapitiya also confirmed that two of the clips were unrelated to the 20th September flooding and that only the final clip showed the Hangran Oya flooding
In Summary, the flooding in Nawalapitiya was real, but the viral video mixed genuine recent footage with old and foreign clips. We therefore rate this claim as Misleading.
Title: Nawalapitiya Flood Video Mixes Old August Footage And A Honduras Clip
Written By: Suji Shabeedharan
Result: Misleading
