Millions travel home from Fourth of July holiday weekend
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The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
FACT FOCUS: No, weather modification did not cause the deadly flash floods in Texas
As authorities search for victims of the flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, social media users are spreading false claims that the devastation was caused by weather modification. Many pointed to one process in particular, blaming cloud seeding performed on July 2 by a California-based company for the tragedy. But officials say there is no evidence that the floods are the result of cloud seeding and experts agree that cloud seeding would not result in precipitation of this magnitude. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A July 2 cloud seeding operation by Rainmaker Technology Corporation caused flash floods in the Texas Hill Country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. THE FACTS: This is false. It is not possible that cloud seeding generated the floods, according to experts, as the process can only produce limited precipitation using clouds that already exist. Forecasts predicted rain for that weekend prior to July 2 in an area that was already prone to flooding. 'The claim that cloud seeding played a role in this tragic event is complete nonsense,' said Andrew Dessler, director of Texas A&M University's Texas Center for Extreme Weather. Dev Niyogi, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies extreme weather, said it is 'extremely unlikely' cloud seeding played a role in the floods. He cited weather factors as the reason: 'the moisture flow coming into the area and the widespread rains the system had, as well as the forecast of very heavy rains over the wider area.' Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said at a press briefing on Monday that 'to the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification' when asked about such speculation. He added: 'The internet is a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.' Nonetheless, social media users questioned whether Rainmaker's operations could be connected to the disaster in Texas. 'Well … this is weird … A company called Rainmaker, conducted a cloud seeding mission on July 2 over Texas Hill Country,' reads one X post. '2 days later, the worst flood in their history occurred … in the exact same area that the Rainmaker flights were. The entire goal of Rainmaker is to increase the precipitation of existing clouds. Why do we let these corporations f — k with the weather?' Many posts also noted Rainmaker's connection to Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who cofounded the data-mining outfit Palantir Technologies, a secretive company that has long relied on spies, police, and the military as its customers. The Thiel Foundation awarded Rainmaker founder and CEO Augustus Doricko $100,000 in 2024 as part of its fellowship program. Cloud seeding utilizes an artificial material — typically silver iodide — to induce precipitation or clear fog. The practice is an imprecise undertaking with mixed results. Dessler explained that 'cloud seeding can work in certain limited situations and produce very modest increases in precipitation,' but often delivers nothing.' Regardless, the process cannot create storms out of thin air. Ken Leppert, an associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said it 'had absolutely nothing' to do with the flash floods in Texas. 'Cloud seeding works by adding aerosols to existing clouds,' he said. 'It doesn't work by helping to create a cloud/storm that doesn't already exist. The storms that produced the rainfall and flooding in Texas were not in existence two days before the event.' The Texas Hill Country, in the central part of the state, is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry, dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. After a flood watch notice was issued midday on July 3, the National Weather Service issued an urgent warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. The July 4 flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours. There was so much rain that the Guadalupe River rose higher than it has in 93 years by almost a foot, according to local reports. 'The natural disaster in the Texan Hill Country is a tragedy. My prayers are with Texas,' Doricko, the Rainmaker CEO, wrote as part of a series of X posts. 'Rainmaker did not operate in the affected area on the 3rd or 4th or contribute to the floods that occurred over the region.' He said Rainmaker's last cloud seeding operation prior to the floods occurred in the early afternoon on July 2 over eastern portions of south-central Texas. Two clouds were seeded and remained in the sky for about two hours before dissipating. Rainmaker suspended its cloud seeding operations indefinitely the same day in response to 'unusually high moisture content.' ___
NBC News
12 hours ago
- NBC News
TSA to end shoe removal policy at some airport security checkpoints, government source says
It's now OK to keep your shoes on at some airports. The Transportation Safety Administration will allow passengers at selected airports to keep their footwear on as they go through security checkpoints, a senior government official tells NBC News. People in screening lanes will have to keep their shoes on at selected airports, but the source said the relaxation of the rules could expand nationwide in the near future. The TSA has yet to announce the move formally, but stated in a Monday press release that it is "exploring new and innovative ways to enhance the passenger experience and our strong security posture." Shoe removal has been part of the airport experience since 2006, when the TSA instituted the requirement, citing intelligence indicating a "continuing threat" of explosives. The rule came after Richard Reid tried — and failed — to ignite his homemade shoe explosives on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001. Reid's plan was disrupted when he struggled to light a fuse attached to his shoes, which contained roughly 10 ounces of explosive material, according to the FBI. He was subdued by passengers and crew members and taken into custody when the flight diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston. After the bombing attempt, the shoe removal rule was implemented, then relaxed, then resurrected. The requirement has apparently remained annoying enough that the TSA released an advertisement in October for its fee-based PreCheck service, which featured four people endorsing their membership for a single reason: they didn't have to take their shoes off at the airport. "It's my favorite thing," one of them said.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Texas teen describes harrowing escape from floodwaters near Guadalupe River: 'There was nowhere to go'
A teenager shared her harrowing escape from rising floodwaters which tore through Texas during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Riata Schoepf, 19, waded through chest-deep waters in the dead of night before she was rescued by a group of strangers who had found respite on the second floor of a two-story home. The Good Samaritans threw down a sheet when they saw Schoepf and her group in the rapid moving waters, hoisting her and the others to safety. Schoepf recalled the harrowing experience to NBC News, beginning about 2.30am on Friday, July 4, when she received a knock on her door from hotel staff telling her she must evacuate. 'We walked outside and the water was up to bottom floor doors. It was insane. It just came out of nowhere.' She, along with most other hotel guests, ran to her car but found herself stuck in unmoving traffic as water lapped at her car door. 'We were just sitting in the car and then you start seeing all the water rising slowly and then it starts getting faster and faster.' Everyone was trying to leave out the same two exits, both of which ran through water crossings, which were already swelling with water and all but blocked. 'We were at a standstill,' she said. 'At this point, there's nowhere else for us to go.' Schoepf then noticed people around her were fleeing their cars and decided to join them. 'We started walking down the street and as you're walking you get the water rising higher and higher,' she said. Finally, as the water began lapping at her chest, Schoepf passed by a two-story house where people on the top floor were using flashlights to see into the fast moving waters below. 'As we were walking by once the water was up close to our chests they were screaming at us to come up because the current was just pulling more and more people in,' she said. 'They let down sheets for us and we started climbing up.' She recalled two men who risked their lives to push people up the sheet, going out into the dangerous waters to bring more people to safety. She said they pulled both people and dogs up to safety, leading to about 45 or 50 people cramped into the space. Everyone in her group who abandoned their cars survived and sought shelter on the roof, but she later learned that others who had opted to stay in the traffic to cross the bridge out of the hotel hadn't made it. Schoepf had tried to text her father during her daring escape, but the lack of reception in the area meant her messages weren't going through. She said messages she had sent him between 4am and 5am detailing the rising floodwaters and her perilous journey actually didn't reach him until closer to 8am. 'It was extremely difficult,' she said. In hard-hit Kerr County, searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, according to officials. The death toll is now at least 104 deaths across central Texas and expected to continue to rise.
