Did Hurricane Hilary Flooded Dodger Stadium

A viral aerial video of Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium has many social media users convinced that floodwaters submerged the ballpark over the weekend amid Tropical Storm Hilary.

“Dodger Stadium flooded in Los Angeles after Tropical Storm Hilary slams California,” reads one popular post on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a still from the footage appearing to show the stadium surrounded by water. “Dodger Stadium is an island,” said another.

But the team says the stadium, which is built into a hill, was never under water — and the apparent flood in the video is just an optical illusion.

Hilary unexpectedly sat directly over Dodger Stadium on Sunday night, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain . A record-breaking 2.3 inches of rain came through with the storm, which has since moved past Southern California and been downgraded again to a post-tropical cyclone.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake also originated in Ojai on Sunday afternoon, roughly 60 miles northwest of Dodger Stadium. 

"When something as notable as a hurricane, or part of a hurricane hitting Los Angeles, everybody wants to provide the most shocking version of it, or the commentary on it," said Karen North, a professor of digital social media at USC.

Video of rides at Universal Studios posted with fake captions also tried to trick social media users. Another video on social media tried to fool people into believing the Metro Wilshire/Vermont station was flooded. L.A. Metro pointed out the video was fake.

"Take a look at the source," North said. "If a verified news source is providing images, it's much more likely to be valid than if somebody with a Twitter account, or somebody with an Instagram account put something up."

 closer look at the footage also reveals parts of the parking lot that would not be present if it was deep under water.

For instance, the painted markings for the parking spaces in the sections closest to the camera — lots 3, 4, 5 and 15 — are visible, and match with the markings in satellite imagery of the area on Google Maps.

A triangular median at the intersections of lots I, K and 7 is also clearly visible in the footage, even though it is mostly landscaped with short shrubbery that would likely have been submerged.

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Sarah H

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