Floodwaters cause explosions at Texas chem facility
Explosions and fumes emanating from a flood-crippled chemical plant in southeast Texas sent a deputy sheriff to the hospital and caused local officials to brace for a fire and more blasts at the facility. News sources report that the flooding caused by Harvey knocked out power to the plant, disabling its refrigeration system and allowing the volatile chemicals it stored to heat up and explode.
The Harris County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) notified Arkema, Inc. at 2 a.m. this morning of two explosions and black smoke coming from its facility in Crosby, which is about 25 miles north of Houston. More explosions are expected, because the organic peroxides that are the source of the blasts are stored in multiple locations at the site. Organic peroxides are extremely flammable. The company and local officials have opted to let fires from the chemicals burn themselves out.