Carbon monoxide deaths have followed nearly every severe storm for decades. Government officials and manufacturers of generators that emit the gas know this. They warn about the dangers in news conferences and through marketing campaigns. But the responsibility for preventing such poisonings is generally viewed as a personal one, absolving governments and companies from fault and from making policy changes that could limit what experts say are preventable deaths.
That narrative repeated itself when a massive winter storm hit Texas in February, unleashing the worst carbon monoxide catastrophe in recent U.S. history. More than 1,400 sought emergency care and at least 17 died from inhaling the colorless, odorless gas after desperate residents fired up portable generators, grills, fireplaces and car engines to keep their families warm. It happened again when Hurricane Ida knocked out electricity in Louisiana, leading to at least six deaths from carbon monoxide released by generators.
An investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News exposed, for the first time, failures at every level of government to protect residents from carbon monoxide poisoning. The investigation revealed years of systemic regulatory neglect that compounded to create unprecedented harm for vulnerable families in Texas and other states. The reporting offered a multilayered examination of the growing danger of carbon monoxide poisoning as the planet warms and extreme weather worsens. It demonstrated that while carbon monoxide deaths are nearly always preventable, government officials have offered only piecemeal responses as the hazard has grown.
Through an exhaustive manual review of state laws and policies, reporters Perla Trevizo, Suzy Khimm, Mike Hixenbaugh, Lexi Churchill and Ren Larson found that Texas was one of just six states with no requirement for carbon monoxide detectors in homes. The reporters delved into policies for Texas’ 254 counties to show how the lack of a statewide regulation left a confusing patchwork of local codes, with uneven protections for residents and limited enforcement.
Horrific 911 recordings that showed a man repeatedly pleading for emergency responders to check on his family led to reporting that exposed a dearth of regulations around forcible entry in Houston, the state’s largest city with more than 2.3 million residents. The reporting pointed to how the absence of such policies across the country has led to deadly delays in cases that included carbon monoxide poisoning. The team then turned its attention to the federal government’s role, demonstrating how regulations that would force generator manufacturers to reduce the machines’ carbon monoxide emissions have been stymied under a statutory process that empowers manufacturers to regulate themselves, resulting in limited safety upgrades and continued deaths.
In the end, the series not only exposed grave failures by government entities but also offered a policy roadmap to address this increasingly urgent threat by exploring solutions, including strengthening carbon monoxide detector requirements and implementing a shelved federal plan to force portable generators makers to significantly reduce carbon monoxide emissions.
In addition to the powerful reporting, a harrowing digital video captures 911 calls from parents in Austin desperate to help their unconscious children, unaware that they’re suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Data visualizations show the peak of the crisis during the storm and how Texas is an outlier when it comes to regulating detectors. A public service piece informs readers about the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to protect themselves. NBC’s “Nightly News” featured a heartrending interview with a man who lost his wife and daughter. And the packages were translated into Spanish so that they could reach the widest audience possible, particularly families from communities who had been most affected.