Hurricane Beryl recently made its way through Houston, Texas.
This has resulted in a litany of problems for city residents. For example, many have been without power and lacked proper resources to find which areas have electricity, forcing them to rely on Whataburger outage maps to determine whether a section of the city has power.
This sort of hurricane is not particularly unique to Texas, but the damage and timing of Hurricane Beryl have raised eyebrows.
“To see a major tropical cyclone east of the Caribbean in late June is almost unheard of,” Howard Botts, Ph.D., CoreLogic’s chief scientist, said in a statement, per Fox Weather. “A Category 5 hurricane in early July has never been recorded.”
This has caused some to cry conspiracy—specifically, that the hurricane and resultant damage were the result of an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP.
Was the power outage the result of an EMP?
In a video with over 222,000 views as of Saturday, TikTok user Walter Bey (@walterbey7moor) explains that, while he’s used to hurricanes, this one felt different. Equipped with a ham radio, the TikToker suspects that something else is afoot.
“I suspect we were hit with an EMP,” he says near the beginning of the video. “I went all around town helping our family yesterday, and the power outage is far more than just a normal category 1 hurricane that I’ve ever seen.”
As evidence, the TikToker notes that “my garage door opener, deep freezer, and my computers are all dead.” He also states that he’s been able to pick up signals from much further away than one would expect.
“I can’t say for sure, but it don’t seem like no regular hurricane hit,” he states.
@walterbey7moor #houston #texasweather ♬ original sound – Walter Bey
Is it possible?
According to the Washington State Department of Health, an EMP weapon can cause the issues cited by Bey.
“When ‘detonated,’ an EMP weapon produces a pulse of energy that creates a powerful electromagnetic field capable of short-circuiting a wide range of electronic equipment, particularly computers, satellites, radios, radar receivers and even civilian traffic lights,” the report reads.
However, it’s also possible for hurricane damage to damage anything plugged into a socket.
“Hurricane-force winds can cause significant structural damage and can knock out power lines, potentially causing surge damage in unprotected electronics and appliances when electricity is ultimately restored,” explains StrikeCheck.
Furthermore, a wide range of issues can affect the ability of ham radios to pick up signals. For example, one report noted that there’s evidence that LED lights could interfere with ham radio operators’ ability to pick up signals.
Given this, it’s understandable that massive power outages could result in ham radio operators being able to detect signals far beyond their typical range.
As a consequence of this information, there’s little evidence to suggest that Hurricane Beryl or its aftermath was the result of an EMP.
In response to some commenters pointing out this information, the TikToker posted a follow-up video suggesting that there could be other elements at play. While he admits that it’s possible that his results were not in response to an EMP, he states that there could be other, human factors that led to this outcome. He provides no evidence for this claim beyond anecdotes.
@walterbey7moor #beryl ♬ original sound – Walter Bey
Commenters don’t buy it
While some commenters shared in the TikToker’s suspicion, many were not convinced that the issues being experienced in Houston and other cities affected by the storm were the result of an EMP.
“Bro, it was a hurricane. you’re not going to have neighborhoods next door to each other with and without power. why would your electronic phone working,” said a user. “This is a waste of internet real-estate.”
“Crazy that your phone survived an EMP attack……Crazy that they are even able to restore power too after an EMP ATTACK! Soooo crazyyyy…. Didn’t know EMPs could blow down poles and rip down wire….. Crazy,” joked another.
The Daily Dot reached out to Bey via Instagram direct message.
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