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VERIFY: These misleading photos are not actually Florence-related

Rumors love to swirl around national storms but both of these viral photos are fake.

During storms and other natural disasters, it's extremely important to have all the facts and and avoid the spread of misinformation and fake news. That's where the Verify team comes in to get you the facts.

Viral, sometimes fear-mongering pictures, can take off on social media like wild fire. Like two trending images spreading online claiming to be related to Hurricane Florence evacuees.

This first image, shared on 123,000 times, shows a jam packed highway that's allegedly I-95 north towards Richmond Virginia, sending out prayers to those fleeing from Hurricane Florence.

The WUSA9 Verify team did a Google reverse image search and traced the original image back to a 2016 Weather Channel article, where it was used in regards to a story about people evacuating for Hurricane Rita in 2005. It's also appeared in several other stories about Houston and Hurricane Rita.

This next rumor circulating comes from an article with the headline "NC Clerk Refuses To Sell Gas To Man Fleeing Hurricane Over Trump Bumper Sticker".

Before you share an article, check out the about section of the page. This one was created from a satirical website, so not real news.

With further digging we found out out the article's thumbnail of the image comes from a 2011 Kansas local news station that shows an altercation caught on camera between a clerk and alleged robber.

Rumors love to swirl around national storms but both of these viral photos are fake.

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