Some have called Hurricanes Helene and Milton an October surprise. Yet such disasters are now dispiritingly predictable. In their wake, pundits have asked whether and how the storms – which happened to hit some key swing states – could impact a presidential election shaping up to be decided by razor-thin margins.
There’s practical concerns, like whether some affected voters will physically be able to cast their ballots. And then there’s a political question: Will the fact that the climate crisis, which is exacerbated these hurricanes, raise the importance of that issue? Or will that be counterbalanced by those who have become convinced the government engineered these disasters to suppress electoral power?
Believe it or not, the answer could rest on the shoulders of your local weather reporter.
Such an unlikely hero went viral earlier this month when John Morales, a venerable meteorologist in Miami, became visibly emotional on air during one of his reports on Milton. His voice choking, he offered an ominous assessment of the hurricane’s strength: “This is just horrific.” That sincerity and urgency garnered the clip nearly 2m views. The resonance of Morales’s appearance proves that combining deep expertise, hard-earned credibility and a willingness to be vulnerable could provide a roadmap – or a forecast – for climate reporting to remain relevant and impactful despite........