Hurricane Beryl Leaves Millions Without Power

Communities in southeastern Texas began recovering from Hurricane Beryl on Tuesday. 

The Details: Hurricane Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday. The storm knocked out power for millions across Texas and Louisiana, and over 2.1 million customers still lacked electricity Tuesday afternoon. At least eight people were reportedly killed.

How the Media Covered It: As with past hurricane coverage, sensationalism was common across the spectrum, employing words like “slammed” and “brutal”; an Associated Press (Lean Left bias) headline said Beryl left “hot misery in its wake.” Coverage in some left and center-rated outlets highlighted “dangerous heat” on Tuesday, tied to a lack of air conditioning. 

Climate Change Nuances: Also echoing past coverage, some left and center-rated outlets added short paragraphs about climate change towards the end of articles — with some differences. For instance, CNN (Lean Left bias) included a context section about heat waves, saying, “Human-caused climate change is driving far more frequent and intense heat waves across the globe, exposing communities to increasingly dangerous temperatures.” Meanwhile, BBC News (Center bias) noted, “While it is difficult to attribute specific storms to climate change as the causes are complex, exceptionally high sea surface temperatures are seen as a key reason why Hurricane Beryl has been so powerful.” Right-rated outlets generally did not appear to discuss this context in coverage about Beryl.