On Sunday, Tropical Storm Hilary made its way through Southern California. Many took to social media to share updates as heavy rainfall hit parts of Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire.
As the afternoon progressed, memes began to mix their way into social feeds, blending on-the-scene reporting with jokes about the aftermath of the hurriquake.
Many Twitter users quickly began to share a video that left many debating if Dodger Stadium had flooded.
Dodger stadium this morning #Dodgerstadium #dodgerblue #copterpilot #dodgerlife #dodgers #dodgertown #doyers #blueheaven #LA #LADodgers #playball #losangelesaerial #dodgeraerial pic.twitter.com/FFZ7OMZ8Ti
— Los Angeles Dodgers Aerial Photography (@DodgerAerial) August 21, 2023
Dodger Stadium is an island. pic.twitter.com/g2mQrKzgS3
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) August 21, 2023
Many were convinced that Dodger Stadium had become an island, but it was an optical illusion of the water and light hitting the concrete parking lot.
Aerial footage of Dodger Stadium on Monday, August 21, 2023. (Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
What people thought happened to Dodger Stadium vs. What actually happened https://t.co/Y3Zkbh4h4A pic.twitter.com/LVLCrI1cFq
— Militant Angeleno (@militantangleno) August 21, 2023
The amount of people thinking Dodger Stadium flooded and haven’t grasped that what they are looking at is simply water on the blacktop / concrete parking lots is alarming. It’s wet concrete.
— David Rosenthal (@_therealdrose) August 21, 2023
If you see this photo floating around of a supposedly flooded Dodger Stadium, take a second and ask yourself: “Self. Why isn’t the field flooded?”
It’s a wet parking lot.
Carry on. 🫡#cawx #TropicalStormHilary pic.twitter.com/cRIqRyeAa4
— Scott 🇺🇸 (@ChaseTheWX) August 21, 2023
i couldn’t find one meteorologist confirming the dodger stadium photo. if it had really flooded, there would be multiple outlets sharing their own images and footage
— Catherine Tinker (@catherinetinker) August 21, 2023
Hate the dodgers as much as the next guy but this is
1- very good angle that is an illusion
2- an old photo from previous years or something
If dodger stadium was flooded every single media outlet would be going crazy and it would be all over people’s stories https://t.co/1p2ive5SVM
— ARTE LEAVE (@arteleave) August 21, 2023
It may look like it is flooded, but it is probably less than an inch of water. Dodger Stadium is built on a giant hill. The asphalt there is very uneven, and looks wavy when wet. You can still see some of the parking lot lines and triangular flower beds. pic.twitter.com/XiJY9epgDp
— Matthew Jones 🇺🇸 (@mattjones0000) August 21, 2023
Some believed that the videos weren’t real to begin with but rather AI generated images.
The flooded Dodger stadium pic was definitely AI.
— Halli Borgfjord (@HalliB) August 21, 2023
The Dodgers even posted to social media to make light of the situation while also reassuring everyone that the stadium was fine.
Dodger Stadium trending? We get it. It looks beautiful this morning. pic.twitter.com/oIrZjndZoZ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 21, 2023