As the death toll from Hurricane Beryl in Texas continues to soar, severe heat amid widespread power outages during and after the storm has been identified as the major cause behind one-third of the 21 confirmed deaths in Texas attributed to Hurricane Beryl.
These deaths highlight how poorly prepared Texas is to handle extreme weather events and increase pressure on the local utility company CenterPoint Energy and state leaders.
Deaths due to heatwaves are becoming more common, showing how different types of environmental disasters can easily overlap. Two days after Hurricane Beryl hit Texas, two sisters named Janet and Pamela Jarrett still didn't have power in their Houston home.
Janet explained that she was playing Pamela's favorite game, Connect 4, one evening and everything seemed okay. However, the next morning, the 64-year-old disabled Pamela - using a wheelchair - was struggling to breathe.
"I heard her heavy breathing, gasping for air," Janet said, NBC News reported. "That's something that doesn't leave your mind. It doesn't go away. Even when I go to sleep and I'm laying there, I hear it. It's like I'm living it all over again."
The 64-year-old died on the way to the hospital and the doctors revealed the cause: hyperthermia due to environmental heat exposure, the same cause of death for one-third of the confirmed fatalities in Texas from Hurricane Beryl.
These deaths were not a result of usual storm hazards like flooding or falling trees, but were caused by the severe heat during and after the storm when power was out. The "feels like" temperatures soared into the triple digits in the days following the storm.
"She didn't have to die that way," Janet said about Pamela. "I'm angry because I couldn't get a response. I couldn't call anybody. I'm angry at CenterPoint for not doing a better job. I'm just angry at everything."
Hurricane Beryl caused power outages for more than 2 million homes and businesses when it hit as a Category 1 storm. CenterPoint noted that it will do a "thorough review" of how it responded to the storm.
"We want to express our condolences to the family and friends of those whose lives were lost as a result of Hurricane Beryl," CenterPoint said.
Doctors at the hospital have linked 525 patients' health problems to the heat since July 4, as per the associate medical director at Houston Methodist Hospital, Dr. Ben Saldana. Even those who didn't face life-threatening issues from the heat experienced tough conditions due to the power outages.
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