#217 Augustus Doricko - Did Cloud Seeding Cause the Texas Floods?

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1:05Augusta Storico welcome back thanks for having me back Sean didn't expect to see again so soon it was quite the timing yeah yeah man so uh massive flood tragedy in Texas you were there cloud seeding before and uh so I know you're getting blasted on the internet people are fucking irate you know what's what's going on and and um you know but i pride myself on giving everybody a voice and so i wanted to offer you the opportunity to come back and talk about what's going down on there so quick introduction and some stats on what's happened last week augustus dorico founder and ceo of rainmaker a next generation cloud seeding company Your name popped up in the news last week, obviously, because of the Texas floods and the cloud seeding stuff.

2:01And so like I said, I just want to bring you on, give you the opportunity to speak to the public, my audience, about what was going on on there. But let's take a moment here to recognize the scale of the tragedy. Killed at least 120 people and left at least 176 missing, notably 27 girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp, were killed. And I just want to say that, you know, every time something like this happens, me and my organization, we like to donate. And so we're making a sizable donation. We did some research and found a nonprofit to donate to. So we're donating to the relief efforts through the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill County country in the show.

2:53And we'll link that link in the show notes for anybody else that wants to donate, including you, if you want to donate to it. Rainmaker will do the same. Perfect. And some facts about the flooding. Texas Hill Country, along the Guadalupe River, heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Berry, unprecedented flooding between July 4th through 7th, 5 to 11 inches of rain fell in a few hours, leading to the Guadalupe River rising 26 to 29 feet in some areas within 45 minutes. Among the deadliest in the U.S. in a century, it's destroyed homes, camps, infrastructure, killed a lot of people, a lot of people still missing that they're looking for.

3:40the tragedy centered in Flash Flood Alley underscored the region's vulnerability to such events with historic floods that also happened in 1987, 1998, and 2015 as presidents. And I also want to take a moment and just recognize a lot of the heroic actions that were going on there extensive extensive rescue operations involving over 850 rescues one coast guard crew made 165 rescues and first responders and everyday americans stepped up to save their neighbors so um you know i don't know how to say this but you know when it's when things like this happen. It's just, it's good to see how many Americans step up.

4:33You know, we saw it in Hurricane Helene. We saw it in the wildfires. We're seeing it here. I mean, it's just, it's good to see Americans. I mean, we live in a very divisive society now. It's good to see people step up in their community and come together to help those indeed in these tragic events. So, So I know you were there, I think it was two days prior to the flood, correct? Correct. And what were you doing there? Sure. So just, again, for those that haven't heard before about what cloud seeding is, in no uncertain terms, I run a cloud seeding company. We make a little bit more rain and snow for farms or for reservoirs or for aquifers when they're dealing with drought, right?

5:21Obviously right now, after the flooding, Texas does not need more water and we've indefinitely suspended operations because of that and we'll keep them suspended until first responders have stopped working. Cloud seeding is not long streaks in the sky, it's not trying to dim out the Sun, it's certainly not creating hurricanes. Cloud seeding is a technology that was invented in the US that relies on clouds, natural clouds, with liquid water droplets in them and And flying into those clouds, dispersing material that then freezes onto those drops, makes big enough, heavy enough snowflakes such that they fall and either fall as snow or melt back into rain.

6:00We have customers throughout Texas, the South Texas Weather Modification Association, the West Texas Weather Modification Association. These are groups of counties and individual farms that pay us for cloud seeding because they historically have needed more water. If you look even back to June 24th, not long ago, a lot of Texas, a lot of the hill country was in severe or moderate drought. So what we were doing there on July 2nd and prior was trying to make more rain for these farms and for these reservoirs and to recharge the aquifer because they tend to need more water. We were operating on the 2nd and we flew one 20-minute cloud seeding mission.

6:40So we seeded two clouds and we dispersed 70 grams of silver iodide into those clouds. First of all, those clouds dissipated over the course of the two hours after the mission, right? So did we seed the storm itself? No, absolutely not. Did we seed clouds that dumped tons of precipitation? No, not that either. Like the most successful cloud seeding missions that have ever been conducted either by Rainmaker or research labs have produced tens of millions of gallons of precipitation. They got hundreds of billions of gallons of precipitation over the course of just hours and trillions cumulatively.

7:18So cloud seeding, though it can make useful amounts of water for these farms and ecosystems, cannot produce a million times more than what the best operations ever have. So that's the first thing to say. The second thing to say is, well, you know, Maybe because you seeded those two clouds on the second, the material stayed in the atmosphere and then made the flooding worse later. And we know categorically that that's not true either. When you seed into clouds and there's subsequent precipitation, the material that you disperse gets precipitated out with the rain. So one, we know that by seeding into the clouds, the aerosol dissipated.

7:59But two, even if we had just been seeding into open air, and we weren't, right, it was 20-plus hours between when our mission occurred and when the flooding ensued. And the winds were blowing northwest such that any of our aerosols would have been long and far north had they even persisted in the atmosphere, and they didn't. Hold on. Let's rewind. What were you saying about—what was that last thing? About the aerosols up there? So one thing— The wind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the winds when we were seeding were blowing to the northwest, right? In the ensuing days, right, you had the storm just plop down and pound this one particular area.

8:38But when we were seeding, the winds were going northwest such that any of the aerosols that could have possibly remained in the atmosphere, and I don't think that any consequential amount did, they would have blown out of the direction of the storm as well. You don't think or you know? We know. We know. Did you see those clouds dissipate? Yes. Do you have that on video? We have that on radar. You have that on radar. Have you released that information? Yeah. Yeah, we posted that online. You did. Mm-hmm. And you were operating, I believe, south, was it southwest of? It was about 100 miles southeast.

9:15100 miles southeast. Mm-hmm. And the wind was blowing which way? It was blowing northwest. It was blowing northwest. So it would have been in the direction of that storm from your location. Correct. However, one, it was 70 grams of silver iodide. That amount of particulate dispersed over hours would have been lower in concentration than just the natural amount of dust that gets kicked up from the soil. It could not have any impact because of those concentrations. And the notion that by seeding, could we have worsened the storm somehow because we created the low pressure system. Like I think a lot of people, and I'm not one to always defer to experts, right?

9:59Like I think that people should trust but verify. The notion that any sort of seating operation then could have worsened the remnants of the tropical storm and then the convergence of a system from the Pacific is like totally impossible. And you can defer to other atmospheric scientists that have brought this up and corroborated it, not from Rainmaker. You can defer to other meteorologists. You can even defer to the Texas Department of Agriculture commissioner that dispelled any rumors about cloud seeding having to do with this. Why did they, who hired you to go down there? The South Texas Weather Modification Association.

10:39So that's a bunch of counties and farms that need more water. Okay. Okay. Did they, I mean, when you're seeding clouds, I mean, are you, how, what's the radius of where you're doing it from? How many miles out are you guys looking at weather? We're looking at, well, for forecasting, you know, this is an important point, right? We're looking at the entire region just so that we understand the situation. Even if we're only seeding over a handful of counties, we want to understand the context. And it's important to do that because on the 2nd, our meteorologists identified that there was this inflow of moisture from the Gulf.

11:20And that's why we suspended operations the afternoon of the 2nd. Now, that's important because, one, that's like Rainmaker wants to do no harm and did no harm. And by proactively forecasting so that we know we're not seeding during storms or during flash floods, like we can prevent ourselves from doing any damage. Right. But it's also important because a lot of people have said, well, you know, who even is regulating you guys? Who even is giving you permission to do this? And it's worth saying, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has permits for weather modification and cloud seeding operations.

11:55They have for decades. Cloud seeding isn't a new technology, right? Only recently have people been able to measure what the effects of it are with new radar tech, but it's not new. The states have regulations. The states have to grant you permits if they approve your concept of operations and also if they approve your suspension criteria. And so that is maybe one of the most important parts here. Suspension criteria are basically the weather conditions or conditions on the ground that would result in us being required to stop operating. And so one of the suspension criteria is if the National Weather Service issues a flash flood warning.

12:32The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at about 1 a.m. on the 3rd, right? We suspended operations on the 2nd. We proactively suspended operations even before we were notified to by the National Weather Service or before we would have been required to by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. So not only did we adhere to the rules, but we proactively stopped long before we needed to because our meteorologists were able to see that there was impending risk. Have you?

13:08I mean, I had a handful of friends reach out to me after, you know, after the flood had happened. And all of the questions were exactly the same. Did Augusta Storico cause this? And I'm not a scientist. I don't know. And, you know, all I know is what I learned in our interview together. And this was, you know, I kind of expressed this in the end of this is what everybody is scared to death. of something like this happening. But, you know, going back to your interview, I remember, if I remember correctly, you said the window of opportunity for it to rain after you see the cloud is 15 to 45 minutes, correct?

13:49Max two hours, but generally within the hour, yeah. So, I mean, I just, I don't, and I don't see a, you know, a small, medium-sized drone being able to create that much devastation? How many drones were you guys using? So in Texas, we use airplanes, not drones. Used airplanes. We use airplanes. However, these airplanes are like six-seater aircraft. They're not the high-altitude jet liners or stuff. That's worth saying because I think a lot of people hear about cloud seeding. They'll look up and see these trails in the sky. they'll think that that's cloud seeding. That's not cloud seeding, right?

14:31Whether you believe that those long trails in the sky are condensation trails or chemtrails, and I don't think that they are chemtrails. I haven't seen evidence for it. A lot of people have sent me the movie The Dimming. Have you heard of this? No, I've not seen it. There's this piece on geoengineering and the risks of solar radiation modification and potentially chemtrails that a lot of people have sent to me. I'm not compelled by that evidence, frankly. Anyway, all that to say, I am totally open-minded to the notion that there could be nefarious stuff from state actors. We know that China is investing$1.4 billion into their weather modification program.

15:12As of our last conversation, it was$300 million. They just ramped it up to$1.4 billion per year. So we do know that they're interested in that. We do know that the Chinese are interested in that. I don't believe that any of those contrails are in fact chemtrails, but these airplanes were flying at this one airplane, to be clear, was flying at 1 ,600 feet above ground level. So another important detail is the altitude where we were flying means that those particulate fell. It seems like the weight of it would, I mean, they wouldn't be able to travel that far at 1 ,600 feet. That's just not that high.

15:52Exactly. But have you seen this video that Nicole Shanahan put out by chance? Jeremy, can you roll that real quick? I just want to get your reaction to this. Hey, everybody. So EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced today that his agency will finally release detailed information on geoengineering. If you've followed me for a while, you know this is something I care deeply about. So this feels like the right moment to share. I have been speaking with a whistleblower over the past several weeks who has helped me really understand what's happening in our skies. They've given me information that could shed real light on these programs, who's behind them, where the funding's coming from, and what we can do to stop them.

16:38I'll be posting an article on my ex-feed later today, so please stay tuned. What do you think she's talking about with this whistleblower? I mean, we obviously know who's behind it. Where does the funding come from? Funding comes from the Texas Weather Modification, whatever group that you were talking about, correct? So, no, she said geoengineering. I don't do geoengineering. I do weather modification. And that difference is really important. Cloud seeding is a kind of weather modification. And it's weather modification because it's local in both time and space, right? Like it affects an individual county over the course of hours.

17:15Geoengineering is a global climate intervention, like dimming the sun, that is aimed at cooling the entire planet down, where the aerosols dispersed into the stratosphere would persist for years. The funding for our cloud seeding operations come from these counties and farms that we work with. The federal government spent$2.4 million on cloud seeding research last year, and that That was all that they'd spent in years since. We don't do any work with the federal government. If we do, I'll be happy to tell people about that. With respect to geoengineering, I'm interested to see what she says. The statement that Lee Zeldin gave, I think yesterday, on transparently accounting for what contrails are, what geoengineering activities exist, I think that that is absolutely a step in the right direction.

18:15Like I think if people are trusted with information, if the government is able to disclose to us what activities are going on, I think that people will rightfully either feel more safe and comfortable about these technologies or feel less safe about them. And then we can regulate appropriately, right? So the whistleblower that that she's alluding to, I suspect I know who that is. Without getting into whether they're a credible source or not, I'll just say to all of like the Make America Healthy Again people, I am super empathetic. Like I want clean water, I want clean air, I want clean food, I'm into regenerative agriculture.

19:00I don't think manipulating the weather is the only way to get more water on the ground for a more productive agricultural base. But I think that cloud seeding is one way to do that. And so, insofar as Nicole is interested in talking about how to make America healthy again, how to ensure that our skies and our climate is clean, like I am totally down to do that and appreciate at least the sentiment around inquiring about what's going on. Mm-hmm. I mean, my inclination is she's talking about you. Mm-hmm. You know, whether she put the word geoengineering in or cloud sitting, I mean, the timing, she's got to be talking about you.

19:42And I mean, she's obviously very concerned. I mean, everybody's very concerned. I'm concerned. But I mean, as far as this whistleblower, you don't have to name a name because, you know, it's not factual yet. But what position does this person hold and why would they not be credible? If it is who I think it is, and it might not be, right? I think it's someone that used to work in a part of the Air Force that was unrelated to any clandestine operations or attempts at cloud seeding or geoengineering, but I I think has made a name for themself in posting inflammatory false information about this. And that gets into a bigger point, right?

20:35Over the course of the last few days, me, fine. A lot of people have offered death threats. So be it, right? Like, I'm happy to continually engage in good faith with the questions and concerns that people have because emotions are running high right now for good reason. Like, there has been a natural disaster and a tragedy. Part of the problem is that there are these accounts online, be they anonymous or even public figures, right, like government figures, politicians. People have come out and knowingly posted false information or insinuated in their posts that cloud seeding had something to do with these floods, despite knowing that there's no way it possibly could have.

21:18And they've done so either for Elon bucks on X or just to rally political support to them from people that are rightfully concerned about the consequences of this technology, but don't yet know the facts. And I think that manipulating people into a frenzy and a mob to make a scapegoat, not just of me, but of people unrelated to our cloud seeding operations, that is reprehensible. I will always, because our Lord was forgiving, be willing to forgive and break bread with people that have done this. But that will stop. That has to stop.

21:59This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook.

22:34This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook.

23:28People are, they're fucking pissed, man. I mean, it's a lot of death and a lot of missing people, a lot of kids. And, you know, when you brought up China earlier and how much did they? $1.4 billion. $1.4 billion invested. Per year. Have you done any research on if China's cloud seeding program has caused any flooding? Is there any evidence of this happening with anybody else that's doing this type of stuff? Because we did see it in Dubai. We did see it in Dubai. So, you wouldn't be surprised to find out that China is not extraordinarily open about their program. What we do know is this. We know that they're investing all of this money.

24:14We know that they have 35 ,000 employees in their weather modification program. We know that they have two universities that offer bachelor's degrees in weather engineering. Right. We know that China has stated explicitly that they intend to export their cloud seeding weather modification systems around the world and are probably interested in doing so not just for the sake of benevolently producing water, but for the sake of one, having leverage over countries for whom they produce water. And two, like, we know that cloud seeding has before been used as a weapon. We know that the Environmental Modification Treaty came out in the 70s to ban weaponized weather modification internationally because the United States used cloud seeding during the Vietnam War to flood the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

25:02Do I think that cloud seeding wholesale should be banned because of that? And American farmers and ecosystems and cities and reservoirs shouldn't be able to use cloud seeding to produce more water. No, I think that would be not just an overcorrection, but like unsound policy. But should there be radical transparency? Should there be serious regulation and permitting around this? Should there be reporting so that people are able to scrutinize the information from cloud seeding activities? And should there be monitoring from institutions like NOAA or the National Weather Service to look for nefarious or malevolent weather modification operations?

25:38Yeah, absolutely. Can you change the color of rain? No. I saw all these things on X where people were claiming it's, I think they were claiming it's your rain because it came down blue when there's all these videos out there. There's no discoloration of the rain at all? Not at all. When we cloud seed and create these snowflakes, right, the initial snowflakes that are created are created by water freezing onto the silver iodide, right? But then those snowflakes break apart and create more snowflakes and you get this chain reaction where the concentration of silver iodide is de minimis. Like I said before, after decades of operating, we've only seen as much as an increase in like eight parts per trillion of silver iodide in soil where cloud seeding is occurring.

26:28There's already two parts per million in most American soil. So like if even it is a statistically significant result, after decades of operation, cloud seeding has added a million times less than what's naturally there. So there's no adverse ecological effects at all. Certainly not enough to change the color of the rain. I don't know what that was. I hope it's not more deliberate. Disinformation. Disclamatory content. Yeah. I mean, can you talk about the size of the two clouds that you seeded versus the tropical storm? Mm-hmm. Like, what's the ratio here? Like a million times. a million times, the remnants of the tropical storm were a million times larger than - Is that a factual number?

27:15A million times? That is an approximation. What I'm getting at there is the best cloud seeding operations that have occurred to date have produced tens of millions of gallons. That storm produced like four trillion gallons of precipitation. So that's roughly on order of magnitude like 100 ,000 to a million times larger than the the best cloud seeding operations could yield in terms of water. Other than the volume, how about the area? Yeah, I don't want to perjure myself here. So, I'll be as specific as possible and people can look at the report that I posted online with all of the radar data on these cells.

27:54But significantly smaller than the area of a county. We're talking in terms of acres here, not like tens of square miles.