KTRK Houston-based meteorologist Travis Herzog tackled a difficult topic recently, warning Facebook followers about weather-related disinformation circulating in the wake of deadly flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas.

On July 6, Herzog first posted on Facebook to explain how the tragedy — in which at least 120  people died — unfolded, and why its impact was so severe.

In that post, he identified himself as a "meteorologist who was born and raised on the outskirts of the Texas Hill Country" who had "witnessed these types of flash floods firsthand." 

Herzog is uniquely qualified to analyze the incident as both a weather expert and a local with a personal, vested interest in the safety and well-being of his community.

The latter was evident when Herzog returned to Facebook a day later to voluntarily address a spate of extreme weather conspiracy theories — a dangerous and growing social media trend.

"Hi. It's me again. Let's talk about cloud seeding," Herzog began, referencing a widely misunderstood, 80-year-old form of weather modification technology. 

"We're all hurting over here in Texas after these floods. Children are still among the missing. The death toll is now over 100. We're in various stages of grief and still trying to make sense of what just happened."

Herzog hit on one of the many reasons these rumors routinely follow any extreme weather event. People were in immense pain, struggling to make sense of the destruction, and understandably fearful for their collective safety.

Like many in Kerr County, Herzog was targeted by endless posts and videos blaming the floods on cloud seeding, content he said foisted needless "confusion and questions" onto grieving locals, when "scientific voices in the meteorology community" were needed.

Cloud seeding conspiracies seem to emerge like clockwork after high-profile, destructive extreme weather events — and each time, experts volunteer to explain why the rumors are harmful. In his post, Herzog detailed what cloud seeding is, and why and when it's used.

Do you worry about the quality of the air inside your home? Yes — often 😬 Yes — but only sometimes 😕 Only when it's bad outside 😮‍💨 No — I never do 😌 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

It's extremely common for misinformation to result from chronologically adjacent but unrelated events, as was the case with floods in Spain last year. Herzog cited similar rumors stemming from cloud seeding activity in San Antonio on July 2.

"Does it make sense to you that dropping a few grams of silver iodide into a cloud 150 miles away from the hardest hit communities two days before the flood even occurred could have caused this?" he asked.

In October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a fact check about cloud seeding and weather modification conspiracies, explaining that weather "steering" technology is "nonexistent." Although the focus was on then-recent hurricanes, the information was equally applicable.

"No technology exists that can create, destroy, modify, strengthen or steer hurricanes in any way, shape or form," NOAA affirmed.

Herzog's July 6 post articulated what "the scientific body of evidence" says is driving an increase in extreme weather — rising temperatures and hotter oceans. 

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