I think that's a huge factor. It impacted the whole east coast, thus disrupting global financial markets, a large chunk of TATL travel, and the entire stream of U.S. election news coverage which would otherwise be prominent on most major global news outlets. (So I guess I'd call it 80% location with a 20% timing bonus thrown in due to the election.)

A gulf coast storm doesn't have that kind of effect on the rest of the world. Perhaps some temporary distortions to energy or commodity prices.

Similarly, here in the U.S., when a volcano erupts in Iceland, nobody in America cares unless you're a geology nerd. But when a volcano erupts in Iceland and jacks up worldwide travel for a few days, it's the lead story on most of our news outlets.