Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) rejected the idea that government weather manipulation could have fueled catastrophic flash flooding in Texas over the weekend, even as weather modification theories have gained traction with some of his Republican colleagues. 

When pressed during a Monday morning press conference over speculation that heavy rains in the Lone Star State had something to do with weather modification and if there would be any investigation into that theory, Cruz said, “to the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification.” 

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“Look, the internet can be a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories,” the Texas senator said after floods in Central Texas claimed at least 91 lives over the weekend, particularly devastating Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls. Dozens remain unaccounted for as search and rescue teams continue the search for bodies and survivors. 

Cruz’s comments follow concerns from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that weather modification techniques such as cloudseeding, a method used in Texas and other states, and geoengineering are “dangerous and deadly.” The weekend of the Texas disaster, the Georgia congresswoman introduced a bill seeking to ban the practice by prohibiting the “injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity.” 

Aside from dismissing theories about whether weather modification is dangerous, Cruz on Monday told reporters that “in hindsight,” he would have swiftly evacuated flood zones in Texas that some local officials appeared to be slow to clear. 

TED CRUZ PUSHES BACK ON ‘PARTISAN FINGER-POINTING’ AMID TEXAS FLOODING

“Everyone would agree, in hindsight, if we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate,” he said.

“Particularly those in the most vulnerable areas — the young children in the cabins closest to the water, we would remove them and get them to higher ground, if we could go back and do it again,” the senator continued. 

During the “period of retrospection” following the floods, officials would look at “what exactly transpired, what was the timeline, and what could have been done differently to prevent this loss of life,” Cruz said. 

His statement comes after some local officials appeared to hold off evacuations because they didn’t “want to cry wolf,” according to Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice. That delay may have cost lives. 

“What we don’t want to do is cry wolf. We want to make sure we activate it at the right time. So even when he had first responded on the ground at 3:30 a.m. in the morning, we had reports, we had first responders being swept away, actually responding to the first areas of rainfall. That’s how quick it happened,” Rice said. 

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A slew of states and private citizens have deployed to the Lone Star State to provide support as it reels from the disaster. 

President Donald Trump will likely visit hard-hit areas on Friday, according to the White House. Cruz said Monday that during a conversation with Trump, the president promised him that “anything Texas needs, the answer is yes.”