Fact Check: Video Does Not Show Dodger Stadium Flooded After Tropical Storm Hilary

Claim:

An aerial video authentically shows that the grounds of Dodger Stadium flooded in August 2023 due to rain from Tropical Storm Hilary.

Rating:

Despite rumors, no, the ball field and parking lot at Dodger Stadium were not flooded on Aug. 20, 2023, because of rain from Tropical Storm Hilary falling on Los Angeles.

Users looking for the truth about this matter searched for "Snopes Dodger Stadium flooded," without quotation marks, according to suggestions offered by Google.

We quickly noticed the online posts that prompted these searches.

Popular posts on X (formerly Twitter) made this false claim. The posts included a glimpse of an aerial video as proof.

"Dodger Stadium is an island," one post said. "WATCH: Dodger Stadium flooded in Los Angeles after Tropical Storm Hilary slams California," read another post.

The aerial video included with these posts was originally uploaded on Aug. 20 by the @dodgeraerial and @ic_drones Instagram accounts. The captions on these posts said nothing about Dodger Stadium supposedly being flooded.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwMJbryRfcM/

The Associated Press reported of this matter, "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."

In other words, the parking lot's concrete was wet. From the air, the wet concrete looked reflective, giving the misleading appearance that the grounds were flooded.

On Aug. 21, the Dodgers responded to the trending news with a post showing the stadium and parking lot were dry:

Staying on the subject of optical illusions, we previously reported about a picture that purportedly showed a 28-foot-long crocodile that was killed in Australia in 1957. However, the photograph was taken decades earlier and the animal simply appeared larger due to forced perspective.

Sources:

@dodgeraerial. "Historic Weather over LA. With @ic_drones." Instagram, 20 Aug. 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/CwMJbryRfcM/.

Evon, Dan. "Is This a 28-Foot-Long Crocodile That Was Killed in Australia in 1957?" Snopes, 7 Nov. 2019, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/28-foot-crocodile-killed-australia-1957/.

Phan, Karena. "Is Dodger Stadium Flooded? No, It Was Just an Illusion." The Associated Press, 22 Aug. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/dodgers-stadium-storm-hilary-flood-misinformation-c9f635c3131826ea4c6da2b3158a8309.

Wharton, David, and Robert Gauthier. "No, Dodger Stadium Didn't Flood. That's Just a Reflection." Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2023, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-21/no-dodger-stadium-didnt-flood-hurricane-hilary-tropical-storm.