DiRico: Rainmaker suspended Texas operations two days before flooding occurred
Augustus Doricko · Weekly Recap: Grok 4 Launch, Texas Floods, Web Browser War, Top Signals, Meta Smart Glasses · Jul 12, 2025 · at 6:13
Augustus DiRico, CEO of Rainmaker, outlines the timeline of their operational pause before the Texas Hill Country flood catastrophe.
0:00 / 0:36exact quote · 36.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“It was over two days prior that Rainmaker had suspended all of its cloud seeding operations in Texas because, one, our forecasters and our meteorologists saw that there was going to be this severe weather event, and we needn't operate to produce more water when there was already the event coming, but two, we suspended operations in accordance with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations suspension criteria, where if there is a severe weather warning from the National Weather Service or there is too much saturation of the soil, we have to ground operations, and so we do so both voluntarily and in accordance with existing statutes.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Augustus Doricko
DiRico: Rainmaker and cloud seeding had no connection to Texas floods
“Rainmaker and cloud seeding had nothing to do with the flooding that unfolded”
DiRico: Marjorie Taylor Greene's weather modification bills lack scientific credibility
“I think it would be both disrespectful to the families involved and baseless and without any technical or scientific credibility if that legislation were to go through”
DiRico: Tropical Storm Barry would have caused Texas flooding regardless
“Tropical Storm Barry, the remnants of which blew into Texas, was going to cause inordinate flooding regardless.”
DiRico: Rainmaker suspended Texas cloud seeding over two days before floods
“It was over two days prior that Rainmaker had suspended all of its cloud seeding operations in Texas, because one, our forecasters and our meteorologists saw that there was going to be this severe weather event, and we needn't operate to produce more water whe…”
DiRico: Rainmaker's July 2 flight released 70g silver iodide and 500g salt
“On July second, we conducted 1:19 minute cloud seeding flight where we released about 70 grams of silver iodide and 500 grams of salt, table salt. That was released at about 1600 feet above ground level into two clouds that dissipated over the course of two ho…”
DiRico: Rainmaker flew a single 19-minute seeding mission on July 2
“On July second, we conducted 1:19 minute cloud seeding flight where we released about 70 grams of silver iodide and 500 grams of salt, table salt. That was released at about 1600 feet above ground level into two clouds that dissipated over the course of two ho…”