Fact check: No reports of 'flesh-eating rain' in Nebraska following East Palestine train derailment

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·2 min read
10

The claim: Flesh-eating rain reported in Nebraska following East Palestine train derailment

A Feb. 18 Facebook video shows a woman warning people to stay out of the rain while two other women appear to react to the warning.

"With regards to the train derailment in Ohio, anyone in North America right now stay out of the rain," says the woman. "There's reports coming in from Nebraska that it's eating s---.

On-screen text reads: "Flesh eating rain in Nebraska?"

The Facebook video, originally posted on TikTok, garnered more than 5,000 shares in less than two weeks. The TikTok video garnered more than 17,000 likes in two weeks.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: False

Experts say there haven't been any reports of "flesh-eating rain" in Nebraska. Given the distance between Ohio and Nebraska, such a connection to the derailment would be impossible, according to a state climatologist.

No reports of 'flesh-eating rain'

A train containing hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, resulting in a massive fire, USA TODAY reported. The derailment prompted concerns about contamination from the disaster.

But there is no evidence the accident has caused flesh-eating rain.

Carla Felix, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, and Martha Durr, director of the Nebraska State Climate Office, told USA TODAY over email that they had not seen reports about such a development.

Allen Dutcher, a climatologist with the Nebraska State Climate Office, said such a phenomenon wouldn't be possible given the situation in Ohio.

Ohio train derailment fact check: What's true and what's false?

"I place the probabilities that rain falling here in Nebraska containing the remnants of the train derailment chemicals at ZERO," Dutcher said in an email. "Since the accident site is about 900 miles east of us and weather systems at this latitude move from west to east, it is about impossible for those chemicals to be lifted up into the atmosphere and move westward nearly a quarter of the distance across the continental U.S. before precipitating out over Nebraska, without having dropped any moisture with the same bacteria over Indiana, Illinois and Iowa."

Dutcher added that major news publications in Nebraska would've reported on the phenomenon if it had happened.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment. The TikTok user could not be contacted.

Lead Stories also debunked this claim.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim of 'flesh-eating rain' in Nebraska