The Summer of Deluge: Climate Change Loading the Dice

Once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, summer has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution, alongside other compounding factors, has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires, and catastrophic flooding. This summer, in particular, has been defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world.

Climate scientists are unequivocal: it’s no accident this is the summer of flooding, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days. The physics are basic, a textbook example of climate change impacts. As climate scientist Kate Marvel explains, warm water drives more evaporation, and warm air contains more water vapor. When cold fronts meet this moisture, it’s wrung out like a water-laden sponge, yielding torrential rain. “There is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.” The U.S. has seen an unusually humid summer, with record amounts of moisture funneled north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic. This has led to record levels of “precipitable water”—the total amount of rain that would result from instantaneously extracting all the water in the air.

Beyond the direct physics, climate scientist Michael Mann’s research identifies “atmospheric resonance”—persistent large-scale weather patterns where undulating jet stream patterns reinforce each other—as another factor making extreme weather, including floods, more likely. These patterns have tripled in incidence since the mid-20th century during summer, further loading the dice in favor of extreme precipitation.

The tragic toll of this new reality is already mounting. Central Texas experienced a devastating July 4th flood, killing more than 130 people. Three people were killed in a flash flood in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on July 8th, related to torrential rains falling on a wildfire burn scar. Major roads in Chicago were suddenly underwater from a 1,000-year rainfall event in early July. North Carolina saw deadly heavy rain from Tropical Storm Chantal remnants, and New York City experienced its second-heaviest rainfall total in one hour on July 14th, with widespread flash flooding. This past week, it was Kansas City’s turn to flood. An “unprecedented number of flood emergencies ravaged the US in 2024,” serving as a grim warning of what was to come.

The Rising Tide of Lies: Drowning Out Truth with Conspiracy

Amidst this escalating peril, a disturbing, insidious tide of misinformation is rising, actively drowning out scientific warnings with far-right conspiracy theories. Following the Texas and New Mexico floods, these theories began percolating through social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter). Rumors, linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory, falsely claim that a shadowy “deep state” is controlling the weather to act against Felonious Punk.

Prominent far-right figures are actively propagating these dangerous lies. Pete Chambers, a former special forces commander, posted documents about a “precipitation enhancement” company, Rainmaker, demanding to know “WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS,” a post that garnered over three million views. This baseless claim was amplified by other MAGA leaders, including retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, and YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers boasting to know “the truth about weather manipulation.”

This is where the rubber meets the road, and the consequences are deadly. These are people who, inherently, do not trust the government, whether state or national. In their view, meteorologists are just another part of that untrustworthy apparatus. This profound distrust creates a fertile ground for conspiracy theories, allowing dangerous misinformation to supplant scientific truth. It directly undermines public trust in emergency warnings, putting lives in direct peril.

The Unsung Heroes: Meteorologists on the Front Lines of Fact

Thankfully, local meteorologists, the unsung heroes on the front lines of fact, are fighting back. They are actively rushing to social media to debunk these “ridiculous comments” and “viral videos,” often with remarkable patience and clarity.

Matt Jones of KSLA News 12 directly addressed the claims: “Is cloud seeding responsible for the recent flash floods? NO.” He explained that cloud seeding is simply not capable of producing the type of intense rainfall that leads to flash flooding. Paul Dellegatto, chief meteorologist at WTVT FOX 13, sarcastically highlighted the absurdity of attributing all major weather events to cloud seeding, from the Texas floods to hurricanes and even snow. Travis Herzog, chief meteorologist at ABC13 in Houston, posted detailed explainers, confirming no cloud seeding operations were conducted on the Texas flood storms. He clarified that Texas regulations prohibit seeding severe storms, that seeding only works on existing clouds, and that the specific operation mentioned by theorists occurred 150 miles away from the flood’s epicenter and ended before the flood. He attributed the Texas flood to natural phenomena like Tropical Storm Barry and upper-level moisture.

These meteorologists are fighting not just for facts, but for public safety. They are directly countering narratives that could lead people to ignore legitimate warnings, a battle for truth in a landscape increasingly polluted by politically motivated lies.

Inland and Unprepared: A Systemic Failure Exacerbated by Disinformation

The human toll of this unpreparedness is stark. The Washington Post’s analysis of Hurricane Helene’s inland devastation in North Carolina in 2024 revealed 78 deaths, five times the coastal drowning toll. Natalie Newman, an Asheville artist whose apartment was swept away, received warnings but underestimated the inland threat, lacking a mandatory evacuation order and a true sense of the danger. Her story is a microcosm of a systemic failure.

Most inland counties lack basic flood evacuation plans, often designated as “host counties” for coastal evacuees. Despite accurate forecasts, local warnings were not “forceful or specific enough.” Officials in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, even worried that mandatory evacuations on winding mountain roads would create chaos, opting for “stronger words” instead. This hesitation, combined with a lack of clear flood maps and limited resources, proved deadly.

Compounding these local failures are significant federal setbacks. Post-Helene efforts to improve preparedness have been “hampered by recent cuts to federal budgets and staff.” The National Hurricane Center had to cancel inland flood trainings. The CDC abruptly “axed” a post-disaster health survey after dismissing thousands of employees. NOAA programs aimed at improving disaster warnings are “in limbo” due to the proposed elimination of its research office. The National Weather Service is scrambling to fill over 150 key vacancies, with one in ten forecast offices missing a Warning Coordination Meteorologist—the crucial staffer responsible for communicating forecasts and developing disaster plans. The San Antonio office, overseeing the Texas Hill Country that flooded this month, is among the largest without anyone in that key role.

Experts are clear: “The cost we are going to pay is going to be in deaths and injuries” if officials cannot communicate flood dangers effectively. This is not just about the weather; it’s about the erosion of trust, the deliberate spread of misinformation, and the systemic dismantling of the very infrastructure designed to protect us.

Heed the Warnings, Fight the Lies – Our Lives Depend On It

The summer of 2025 is a stark reminder that climate change is making extreme weather, particularly inland flooding, deadlier than ever. The insidious threat of far-right conspiracy theories, amplified by social media, is not harmless; it is actively undermining trust in science and emergency warnings, putting lives in direct peril.

We must heed the warnings from meteorologists and disaster experts. We must demand that our local and federal governments prioritize robust flood planning, clear communication, and adequate funding for scientific agencies. To those in the “little places tucked back into coves” across the nation: This isn’t the usual summer. Staying put on those lands is going to get people killed. Heed those warnings. Understand the toll it takes on our first responders when they don’t know if you survived.

The wind is picking up, the waters are rising, and the lies are spreading. Our lives depend on our collective choice to confront these truths, to trust science over conspiracy, and to demand that our leaders prioritize public safety over political opportunism. The time for denial is over. The time for action is now.