A Texas engineer was the target of many conspiracy theories saying that he has manipulated weather conditions with his geo-engineering business. Here’s what you need to know.
• Read also: An even dreaded assessment after the floods in Texas
• Read also: Deadly floods could become the new standard in the United States
Augustus Doricko is the founder of Rainmaker, a company “of clouds of clouds”, can be heard in a video shared by the French media TF1 Info, on July 5.
His goal? “End the water shortage,” he says.
Recall that the floods in Texas, which left a hundred dead when writing these lines, began on July 4. Many conspirators have thus started to share the video on social networks by making it responsible for the tragedy.
The candidate for the mid-term elections Kandiss Taylor even said that these floods are “false”.
So, has Augustus Doricko really caused the floods in Texas? No. We explain to you.
Details provided
The CEO of Rainmaker first came to correct the shot on these accusations. He said that the last cloud sowing operation in Texas was carried out on July 2, two days before the start of the torrential rains.
The engineer then declared that he was “not responsible” for the floods in Texas.
“Despite this juvenile malice, I hope we can be friends one day,” he wrote on X.
The sowing of clouds consists in introducing additional particles into the clouds to promote the formation of water droplets and thus trigger the rain, according to the information available on The site of the chief scientist of Quebec.
The meteorologist Travis Herzog went to the defense of Mr. Doricko. In a Facebook publication, on July 6, the expert said that Rainmaker’s practice cannot cause deadly floods: it is even “physically impossible”, he confirmed.
The sowing of clouds can “increase the precipitation of an existing cloud up to 20%” only, can we read in its message.
Mr. Herzog is thus convinced that the cause of the floods in Texas is “the persistent humidity of the tropical storm Barry” and nothing else.
The sowing of clouds has existed for 80 years in the United States, recalled TF1 Info which specifies that it is even a “current practice”.