Did cloud seeding trigger Texas floods? Misinformation spreads as death toll climbs over 100

As Texas grapples with devastating floods that have left more than 100 dead, conspiracy theories about the cause of the disaster are spreading on social media. Some users have claimed that cloud seeding, a process in which various substances are released into the air to induce precipitation, had caused the torrential downpours.

Some experts and meteorologists are coming forward to refute these claims, saying that the floods were nature-driven. The floods, which hit central Texas over the July 4 holiday weekend, brought record amounts of rainfall and caused rivers to rise rapidly, flooding the communities.

According to SCMP, the flood was caused by monsoonal moisture and the remnants of a tropical storm that had just moved ashore from Mexico, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) reported. Authorities had warned of the threat of heavy rains days ahead of the event.

In January, I teamed up with @VICENews to explain why cloud seeding is entirely unrelated to floods.

“Conspiracy theorists don’t understand scale,” I explained.

That discussion is very relevant tonight. Cloud seeding is for a tiny cloud — not a 4,000,000,000,000 gallon flood. pic.twitter.com/R49jPmOSrN

— Matthew Cappucci (@MatthewCappucci) July 6, 2025

That didn’t stop the social media platforms from speculating on other causes. Several social media accounts shared posts to imply that cloud seeding was responsible for the high rainfall received.

These theories mirror ones that have been made in the wake of other natural disasters before, such as floods in the United Arab Emirates and hurricanes in the United States, which have also been quickly debunked by scientists.

According to the Desert Research Institute, cloud seeding is the process of releasing silver iodide particles into clouds to support precipitation. Though seeding technology has been a tool of drought relief and hail suppression since the 1940s, experts say it cannot create broad weather events of such magnitude.

A look into Texas' connection to cloud seeding projects

One of the companies that performs cloud seeding in Texas, Rainmaker Technology Corp., acknowledged that it had halted its operations days before the disaster. According to CEO Augustus Doricko, the company's last mission was on July 2 when two clouds were seeded in south central Texas.

"Did Rainmaker conduct any operations that could have impacted the floods? No... The clouds that were seeded on July 2nd dissipated over 24 hours prior to the developing storm complex that would produce the flooding rainfall," he wrote on X.

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, cloud seeding programs cover 31 million acres in the state and are intended to bring more rain to drought-plagued areas (MYSanantonio). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reiterated its belief that cloud seeding cannot cause or enhance extreme weather.

🚨 9 U.S. STATES ARE USING CLOUD SEEDING TO MODIFY THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW

This isn’t a conspiracy. It’s official policy and its active.

Right now, Texas, California, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, and North Dakota are blasting chemicals into the sky to force… pic.twitter.com/idY70rIZaa

— HustleBitch (@HustleBitch_) July 6, 2025

As the false reports and speculations spread, government officials and scientists are warning the public to trust only official information. Politicians, meanwhile, have begun to chime in on the controversy.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told supporters she would propose a bill to prohibit weather modification, calling cloud seeding “dangerous” despite scientific evidence stating otherwise.

"I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere... We must end the dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering," she said.

Amidst the rescue and recovery operations throughout Texas, emergency officials are also fighting to push back against false rumors, which they say have diverted attention from the vital humanitarian response.