Deadly floods struck Texas recently, claiming at least 89 lives and leaving communities grappling with the destruction. As the state recovers, false rumors have spread online suggesting cloud seeding caused the extreme rainfall. Experts say that’s not true.
The floods were the result of a powerful natural weather system. The US National Weather Service had warned about heavy rain in Texas and the Southwest days before the flooding happened. Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico combined with leftover moisture from a tropical storm that hit Mexico the week earlier. This created intense thunderstorms that dumped over a foot of rain in some areas.
In one of the hardest-hit spots, the Guadalupe River near Kerrville surged by about 26 feet in less than an hour, overwhelming the region. Meteorologists are clear that cloud seeding, a method that tries to encourage rain from clouds using chemicals like silver iodide, played no role. Rainmaker Technology Corp, the company that briefly sprayed clouds in south-central Texas last week, stopped their work the same day because the air was already too full of moisture. Their 20-minute effort would have only affected those clouds for a few hours and certainly wouldn’t have caused floods days later.
Cloud seeding has been studied for decades but remains unpredictable. Scientists estimate it can increase rainfall by anywhere from 0 to 20 percent in ideal conditions—far too little to create record-breaking floods. Specialists point to the weather balloon data, which showed very high moisture in the atmosphere before the storms, as proof the floods were natural.
Despite this, some social media accounts with large audiences pushed the false idea that weather modification was responsible. This isn’t the first time such claims have appeared. Similar accusations arose after floods in the United Arab Emirates last year, but experts quickly dismissed those too.
Local officials in Texas are also dealing with other misinformation. Fake calls and scams related to the floods have caused extra concerns, adding to the stress of emergency responders and families affected.
Those familiar with cloud seeding hope clearer rules and more public education can help prevent confusion around weather modification in the future. For now, the consensus is clear: these floods were a tragic consequence of nature’s power, not man-made weather manipulation.