Conspiracy theories about weather modification programs are surging online amid a torrent of misinformation following tragic flash floods that struck the US state of Texas on July 4, 2025, with posts across platforms claiming a local cloud seeding operation triggered the rainstorms.

Cloud seeding could not have caused the disaster because the process increases precipitation only by a small amount, experts said.

On Wednesday, hundreds prayed, wept, and held one another at a prayer service, among the first of many somber gatherings to come in the weeks ahead.

Officials in Kerr County, the hardest-hit region, said the number of missing remained unchanged since Tuesday, at 161. The floods have killed at least 120 people statewide.

At least 161 people remain missing in Kerr County, Texas, as authorities and volunteers search the Guadalupe River for victims.