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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Explosion in Texas

Explosion in Texas

by John Cole|  April 18, 20131:26 am| 127 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics

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Apparently a fertilizer plant blew up in Texas, and CNN says 2 dead while a Texas source has 70 dead. Given CNN’s performace today, I’m going to go with the Texas source.

In other news, I read that the 17 year cicada returns around here this year, so I’ve basically decided that as a first-born son, despite being an atheist, I am running for the god damned hills. I’m not even going to wait for the rivers of blood or darkness or whatever the hell is supposed to happen.

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Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Halocene Human

    April 18, 2013 at 1:27 am

    Big man askeered of a little, gentle cicada.

    SMH.

  2. 2.

    GregB

    April 18, 2013 at 1:30 am

    It is kinda sorta getting that Apocalyptic feeling. Thank God I still have enough toilet paper and Slim-Jims left over from Y2K to get me through this rough patch.

    Hoping for the best in Texas yet expecting it to be really devastating.

  3. 3.

    jnfr

    April 18, 2013 at 1:31 am

    I can’t process everything that’s going on today.

  4. 4.

    maya

    April 18, 2013 at 1:34 am

    Yeah, 17 year cicada. Big fucking joke as there are cicada maturing at different times in different parts of the country. Camping out in Missouri, June 1972, the whole tent was crawling with them at night. Weird. So: 72 -89 – 06 – 23. Nope, sorry, doesn’t computer. 17 year cicada, my ass.

  5. 5.

    The Dangerman

    April 18, 2013 at 1:34 am

    When shit starts getting real all over, CNN will have to clone Anderson Cooper.

  6. 6.

    David Koch

    April 18, 2013 at 1:36 am

    it’s obummer’s fault.

  7. 7.

    The Other Bob

    April 18, 2013 at 1:37 am

    Thanks for the late night thread. For some sadistic reason, I manage to get myself worked up debating fools on facebook who are defending the right of felons to own guns. It keeps me up at night.

    What the heck is wrong with me?

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    April 18, 2013 at 1:37 am

    @GregB:

    Out of curiosity, which do you eat first: 13-YO Slim Jims or 13-YO toilet paper?

    I’m putting TP in the lead here.

  9. 9.

    YellowJournalism

    April 18, 2013 at 1:38 am

    About a week ago I was listening to a report about the cicadas that turned into a discussion about different ways of cooking them. The “expert” said his favorite way to eat them was raw.

  10. 10.

    joel hanes

    April 18, 2013 at 1:39 am

    @maya:

    There are many populations of periodic cicadas:
    seventeen-year, thirteen-year, eleven-year, seven-year. The periods tend to be prime numbers. Stephen Jay Gould explained one possible reason some years ago.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    April 18, 2013 at 1:39 am

    @maya:

    17 year cicada, my ass.

    If you say that 3x to the bathroom mirror in the dark, the weirdest curse ever, happens.

  12. 12.

    Bubblegum Tate

    April 18, 2013 at 1:39 am

    Ugh, those 17-year cicadas are gross.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    April 18, 2013 at 1:40 am

    @YellowJournalism:

    The new diet for the mid-21st century: cicadas and jellyfish.

    Comet. Nao. Plz?

  14. 14.

    Hill Dweller

    April 18, 2013 at 1:41 am

    Why does CNN have all their reporters/hosts standing in a semi-circle on a Boston street corner looking at their phones?

    Every clip I saw during the mass ridicule of their reporting had them doing the same thing.

  15. 15.

    amk

    April 18, 2013 at 1:42 am

    Beebs sez scores injured, no deaths. I will go with them.

  16. 16.

    The Other Bob

    April 18, 2013 at 1:43 am

    Those aren’t cicadas, they’re tiny drones.

  17. 17.

    Alison

    April 18, 2013 at 1:43 am

    @Hill Dweller: They probably think it makes them look super techie and with it and on the ball. Instead they just look like douchebags.

  18. 18.

    Alison

    April 18, 2013 at 1:45 am

    @amk: Hmm.

    “Earlier, Dr. George Smith, the head of West, Texas EMS had confirmed that there were at least 60 dead and over 100 injured.”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57580172/unknown-number-killed-in-texas-plant-explosion/

  19. 19.

    MattR

    April 18, 2013 at 1:48 am

    You think Gov Perry will refuse help from the federal government?

    Do you think Republican Congressmen will hesitate before voting for funds to be sent to Texas?

  20. 20.

    Another Halocene Human

    April 18, 2013 at 1:48 am

    At least today is over in EDT and CDT.

  21. 21.

    ? Martin

    April 18, 2013 at 1:50 am

    @MattR:

    You think Gov Perry will refuse help from the federal government?

    To their credit, Texas is a donor state. The only red donor state, in fact.

  22. 22.

    MattR

    April 18, 2013 at 1:50 am

    @amk: @Alison: CNN a little gun shy? Good. Hopefully the lesson will stick for more than 24 hours.

    @? Martin: Yeah, but that surplus isn’t enough to cover the deficits their compatriots create ;)

  23. 23.

    amk

    April 18, 2013 at 1:50 am

    @Alison: I am sure there are casualties but I would rather wait for an official PC.

  24. 24.

    Liquid

    April 18, 2013 at 1:51 am

    Reminds me of this — http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HJVOUgCm5Jk — PEPCON explosion in ’88

  25. 25.

    maya

    April 18, 2013 at 1:51 am

    @joel hanes:

    There are many populations of periodic cicadas

    Yeah. No kidding. That was my point. All you hear about, though, is that dreaded 17 year cicada. Seems like every year they’re coming out of the ground somewhere. Actually, not frightening, just noisy. Wouldn’t know about tasty. Chocolate covered might be interesting.

    Say, how’s that diet John Cole was going on coming along?

  26. 26.

    Suffern ACE

    April 18, 2013 at 1:52 am

    @trollhattan: here’s a recipe booklet for the truly adventurous.

  27. 27.

    Yutsano

    April 18, 2013 at 1:53 am

    @MattR: Nope. Remember how he was blaming Obummer for the slow federal response to the wildfires that hit the state last year? Gubmint is ebil until a conservative needs it. Then they EARNED it dammit!

  28. 28.

    ? Martin

    April 18, 2013 at 1:55 am

    @Alison: Yeah, I think this is going to be horrible. That explosion was unreal. I hope CNN got this one right for a change.

  29. 29.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    April 18, 2013 at 1:59 am

    I hear that Republicans are horrified by the blast because Obama will be able to show rural folks that the government can actually help them when they are in need. I’m sure that Rugged Rick Perry will turn down all offers of assistance from the federal government.

    Wouldn’t want to help make Obama look good, right?

  30. 30.

    dewzke

    April 18, 2013 at 2:08 am

    msnbc reports that the USGS said the explosion registered @ 2.1 on the richter scale.

  31. 31.

    JGabriel

    April 18, 2013 at 2:09 am

    John Cole @ Top:

    In other news, I read that the 17 year cicada returns around here this year, so I’ve basically decided that as a first-born son, despite being an atheist, I am running for the god damned hills.

    Is there any part of West Virginia that isn’t hills?

  32. 32.

    dewzke

    April 18, 2013 at 2:12 am

    http://www.breakingnews.com/item/ahZzfmJyZWFraW5nbmV3cy13d3ctaHJkcg0LEgRTZWVkGN-fsQ4M/2013/04/18/the-usgs-recorded-a-21-magnitude-seismic-event-on-the-richter-scale-a

  33. 33.

    eyelessgame

    April 18, 2013 at 2:12 am

    Hey. There’s an opportunity here.

    The rule is that after an explosion or other man-made catastrophe, our congress hysterically overreacts.

    Everybody call your congressman. Insist that they declare war on bullshit.

  34. 34.

    Spaghetti Lee

    April 18, 2013 at 2:13 am

    Jesus Christ can’t we just go one day without something fucking horrible happening.

    As for cicadas, fuck ’em. Little monsters. The Chicago-area ‘brood’ isn’t scheduled back until 2022 or something though, so I’m good.

  35. 35.

    JGabriel

    April 18, 2013 at 2:13 am

    @The Other Bob:

    For some sadistic reason, I manage to get myself worked up debating fools on facebook who are defending the right of felons to own guns. It keeps me up at night. What the heck is wrong with me?

    Possibly what’s wrong with you is that you’re not insane.

    Sanity seems to be a disadvantage in modern America, particularly among those self-identifying as Conservatives.

  36. 36.

    DH

    April 18, 2013 at 2:14 am

    The Republican Rep of where the explosion went off voted against the federal aid for the NE after the Hurricane.

    Bill Flores is his name

    I wish all the poor people get the help they will get the help they need.

    I hope Mr. Flores rots in hell.

  37. 37.

    Liquid

    April 18, 2013 at 2:15 am

    Times like these I always enjoy revisiting DX:HR — The FEMA Base always makes me laugh. Of course it had nothing to do with guns/gun registries.

    That and PICUS, a very elegant display of propaganda vs. guilt.

    Oh and top of the 14th in Seattle…

  38. 38.

    andy

    April 18, 2013 at 2:18 am

    Cicadas? All that means is your neighborhood will sound like an anime.

  39. 39.

    JGabriel

    April 18, 2013 at 2:19 am

    BBC via amk:

    Scores of people are reported injured and others are trapped in burning buildings after a huge explosion at a fertiliser plant near Waco in the US state of Texas.

    What the fuck is it with Waco? You’d think, with all the crazy shit that happens there, everyone would have moved away by now, if only out of an instinct for self-preservation.

  40. 40.

    JGabriel

    April 18, 2013 at 2:23 am

    @MattR:

    Do you think Republican Congressmen will hesitate before voting for funds to be sent to Texas?

    I hope the New York delegation does.

  41. 41.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    April 18, 2013 at 2:23 am

    @JGabriel: They breed pod people in vats in a lab on the Baylor campus.

  42. 42.

    amk

    April 18, 2013 at 2:24 am

    @JGabriel: rugged individualism dontchaknow.

  43. 43.

    Geoduck

    April 18, 2013 at 2:25 am

    @JGabriel:

    What the fuck is it with Waco?

    It wasn’t in Waco, but a small town nearby called West.

  44. 44.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 18, 2013 at 2:26 am

    @JGabriel: Didn’t Shrub the Dimson sell his ranch there and move to Dallas? Got too CRAZY for even for him.

  45. 45.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    April 18, 2013 at 2:28 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Crawford, Texas, is indeed in the Waco area. From what I have read, it was Laura Bush who insisted they go to Dallas.

  46. 46.

    Liquid

    April 18, 2013 at 2:32 am

    Totally OT/Cheer up the BJ-eratti — Once again, times like these. Makes me glad I stumbled across a clip of Les Stroud (one of my heroes) talking to Joe Rogan and floating the idea of spending a month ‘in the bush’ on the hunt for Bigfoot.

    Seriously, hearing him describe his experience — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp-YOxSe6Rc — and his ideas.

    I love that shit, then there’s my own creepy experience at Olympic National Park which pretty much mirrors his own.

  47. 47.

    Geoduck

    April 18, 2013 at 2:35 am

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: Evidently they still own the ranch, but only go there on weekends and holidays.

  48. 48.

    Spaghetti Lee

    April 18, 2013 at 2:38 am

    So apparently they arrested the guy who tried to mail ricin to Obama and Roger Wicker. Paul Kevin Curtis of Corinth, Mississippi.

    Both letters said: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.” Both were signed, “I am KC and I approve this message.”

    Ooh, another deep thinking principled philosopher who thinks the best way to display his philosophy is by trying to kill people. Like the next frickin’ Tom Paine or something. Not smart enough, apparently, to not sign his OWN INITIALS in the letters. Tool.

  49. 49.

    The Other Bob

    April 18, 2013 at 2:39 am

    @JGabriel:

    Thanks, but I can’t seem to ignore those who should be ignored.

  50. 50.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    April 18, 2013 at 2:40 am

    @Geoduck: Is that where he goes to do his art work?

  51. 51.

    ? Martin

    April 18, 2013 at 2:41 am

    @Spaghetti Lee: What I read was the guy believes he uncovered a government plot to harvest and sell body parts.

    So, you know…

  52. 52.

    pseudonymous in nc

    April 18, 2013 at 2:45 am

    One-mile exclusion zone in that city = the entire city, more or less. The Waco paper had a reporter there fast, and she couldn’t get within half a dozen blocks of the plant.

    Small city, limited emergency resources, looks like the evacuation was ongoing when the explosion happened. Hope for the best, fear for the worst.

  53. 53.

    Viva BrisVegas

    April 18, 2013 at 2:47 am

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Not smart enough, apparently, to not sign his OWN INITIALS in the letters. Tool.

    That’s what you might call a pre-emptive plea of mental incompetence.

  54. 54.

    nellcote

    April 18, 2013 at 2:48 am

    An eyewitness told DallasNews.com “It was a small fire and then water sprayed the ammonia nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb.” The 18th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is tomorrow. In fact, this part of Texas was in the news 20 years ago this week, when the final siege on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco began, resulting in the deaths of 76 people. West, TX is about 20 miles north of Waco.

  55. 55.

    Spaghetti Lee

    April 18, 2013 at 2:49 am

    @? Martin:

    Well, that would be a Wrong, but I suspect it’s funded by the same department that funds the North American superhighway, the Abortionplex, and the Double Secret Welfare for Only Black People fund.

  56. 56.

    mdblanche

    April 18, 2013 at 2:53 am

    @DH: I wish all the poor people get the help they will get the help they need.

    I don’t know if I care anymore whether they do or not. They saw fit to send someone to Congress who wouldn’t lift a finger to help my community in its hour of need. They saw fit to send two men to the Senate who hardened their hearts to another community in my region that lost an entire first grade class. They don’t act like they care about people where I live, so why should I care about them?

  57. 57.

    Spaghetti Lee

    April 18, 2013 at 2:59 am

    @mdblanche:

    If you insist on only helping people whose politics you agree with, consider that 34% of people in that county voted for Obama. Math-wise, there’s nowhere in the country such logic holds up, that they’re all assholes, so you can ignore them with a clear conscience. Not Utah, not Idaho, not anywhere. There are always some innocent people who get caught in the crossfire.

    And personally, I’ve never liked the ‘people who don’t vote my way deserve to suffer’ argument. Feels kind of unhealthy. I’ve always believed that part of the liberal ideal is that everyone gets help when they need it. Yes, even the jerks. Yes, even the people who didn’t vote for my guy. If you don’t do that, you’re no better than the assholes you’re talking about.

  58. 58.

    Liquid

    April 18, 2013 at 3:03 am

    Might as well throw your hat in and call it a day.

    We need someone x10 worse than Jorge Boosh if there’s to be any hint of real progress. Thanks to a horrendous decade of cynicism it’s going to take an end-of-the-fucking-world scenario to even come close.

    Of course we don’t want that and will prevent it from happening and this shit will go on until we collapse under our own incompetence/greed/corruption.

    My only regret is that I won’t be around (in theory) to see where Humanity ends up in ~1000 years.

  59. 59.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    April 18, 2013 at 3:08 am

    @Spaghetti Lee: Well said.

  60. 60.

    Aet

    April 18, 2013 at 3:09 am

    The cicadas are mostly harmless.

    Expect several weeks of huge, clumsy, stupid, harmless bugs crashing into any and everything.

    Buy an extra broom, patch up any holes in the screens, and make sure to throw out the garbage each night. Any make sure you buy a hat: getting a cicada stuck in your hair is a unique and magical experience.

  61. 61.

    pseudonymous in nc

    April 18, 2013 at 3:10 am

    @nellcote:

    An eyewitness told DallasNews.com “It was a small fire and then water sprayed the ammonia nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb.”

    Oh, jeez. The Dallas paper checked the EPA safety statement from the plant and it said “no fire risk”, but if they sprayed the fire with water and it got into the containers…

  62. 62.

    Liquid

    April 18, 2013 at 3:14 am

    As a Sci-Fi geek I prostrate myself before the Altar of Sigourney Weaver and beg her forgiveness.

    But when it comes to Nature Docs — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLiWy2nT7U — Only Sir David Attenborough will do.

  63. 63.

    Anne Laurie

    April 18, 2013 at 3:19 am

    @nellcote:

    An eyewitness told DallasNews.com “It was a small fire and then water sprayed the ammonia nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb.” The 18th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is tomorrow. In fact, this part of Texas was in the news 20 years ago this week, when the final siege on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco began, resulting in the deaths of 76 people. West, TX is about 20 miles north of Waco.

    Knew a geek from that part of Texas who always insisted locating Buffy’s Hellmouth in California was a deliberate misdirection…

  64. 64.

    Loneoak

    April 18, 2013 at 3:23 am

    Compost doesn’t explode, in case anyone was wondering. I have quite the compost plant in my backyard and never has it taken out a nursing home or caused an earthquake. It’s time we learned to trace out the extended consequences of our choices.

  65. 65.

    Anne Laurie

    April 18, 2013 at 3:26 am

    @Liquid:

    Only Sir David Attenborough will do.

    Agreed, but the anti-evolutionists have a fatwa against him. The “Ignernt ‘n praaaoud of it, like ma daddy afore me” school boards in places like Texas and Indiana control too much of the educational market for the BBC to ignore, tragically.

  66. 66.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    April 18, 2013 at 3:31 am

    So, the funeral of Margaret Thatcher was on Wednesday. What should have happened to her is that she should have been shoved into whatever ditch Pinochet is in, and then have a freeway paved over the top of it.

  67. 67.

    MikeJ

    April 18, 2013 at 3:32 am

    Just reading the hed I thought it was going to be Texas City again. It was blown up once by a ship full of ammonium nitrate.

  68. 68.

    mdblanche

    April 18, 2013 at 3:35 am

    @Spaghetti Lee: It’s not that I only want to help people whose politics I agree with, it’s that I don’t feel like the conservative side can be counted on to help those they disagree with. And that’s something I’ve only started feeling recently. Congressional Republicans had no qualms about ignoring the 40% of Romney voters in my county until their money spigot was threatened and Newtown is a mostly Republican town. I’m losing faith that the conservative parts of the country can be counted on to keep the social compact that was never just a liberal or a conservative thing before. And without that reciprocity the liberal ideal of even helping the jerks feels like being taken advantage of by them instead.

  69. 69.

    Spaghetti Lee

    April 18, 2013 at 3:41 am

    @mdblanche:

    Understandable, honestly. And this may sound a little conspiratorial on my part, but I do think that one of the Republican money peoples’ long term goals is to get people who are even naturally inclined to support the social contract and the idea that people should help one another and that the government should do good-to even get those people to despair of the idea. If they do that there’s no one left to stand up to them.

  70. 70.

    JPL

    April 18, 2013 at 3:55 am

    Is this right? I just woke up and saw the news. A small fire started at a fertilizer plant and while firefighters were fighting it, it exploded and took down other buildings.

  71. 71.

    Schlemizel

    April 18, 2013 at 4:06 am

    @MikeJ:

    Thats the first thing I thought of, Texas City.

    It was a a cargo ship & there was a fire so they thought they would be clever and close the holds to smother it – exactly the wrong thing to do!

  72. 72.

    Joseph Nobles

    April 18, 2013 at 4:08 am

    It was not a small fire before the explosion. It was a huge fire.

    And I’m hearing it was not ammonium nitrate, but anhydrous ammonia.

  73. 73.

    Schlemizel

    April 18, 2013 at 4:10 am

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    And they are doing a wonderful job of convincing us that it is hopeless.

    Another piece of that is the effort to ensure that government always fails. Programs that used to work fine have been run through a Republican meat grinder so that they don’t do their basic job well and then get highlighted as proof the government can’t work. No effort is made to fix things that are broken. It just starts adding up to the point were people believe the government really can’t help.

  74. 74.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 18, 2013 at 4:16 am

    @The Other Bob:

    What the heck is wrong with me?

    You’re sane, unlike the idiots your bothering to attempt to reason with?

  75. 75.

    kdaug

    April 18, 2013 at 4:22 am

    Don’t hate the Czechs. They’re quiet, close-knit, mind their own business, and generally stay out of politics. They make a damned good kolache, though – pick one up on a shot up 35 if you’re in the ‘hood.

    Oh, you didn’t know West was a Czech town?

    Fuck off.

  76. 76.

    JPL

    April 18, 2013 at 4:24 am

    @Joseph Nobles: Thanks!

  77. 77.

    Schlemizel

    April 18, 2013 at 4:24 am

    As painful as it is I have to give props to NBC news. Not only were they the only US news source that did not report the false story of an arrest in Boston but they are doing a pretty decent job on this Texas deal. So far they are saying they have to be some deaths but they are not even speculating on numbers. Hundreds injured is all they will admit to. Maybe it is possible they are learning & actually trying to do better.

  78. 78.

    Schlemizel

    April 18, 2013 at 4:26 am

    @kdaug:

    No, I thought West was a Texas town. Does the State Dept. know about this?

  79. 79.

    kdaug

    April 18, 2013 at 4:33 am

    @Schlemizel: My point is I get sick of the “Mexicans & Cowboys” stereotypes.

    Ever heard of Fredricksburg? Pflugerville? New Braunfels?

    There are a shitload of ethnicities in Texas, and they’ve been here since the founding.

  80. 80.

    Schlemizel

    April 18, 2013 at 4:37 am

    @kdaug:

    Sorry, I was trying to be funny.Its just so goddamned depressing between the politics, the crazy bombers, the natural disasters and the man-made disaster covered with a fine layer of the sort of human nature stuff that is only slightly annoying when things are going well that I find it hard to take without trying to be funny. Its often inappropriate but its a coping mechanism.

  81. 81.

    kdaug

    April 18, 2013 at 4:46 am

    @Schlemizel: Understood.

    We all cope how we can.

  82. 82.

    bago

    April 18, 2013 at 4:47 am

    @Aet: It’s good that they are too big to get lodged against your eardrum. That was a horrible hour and a half before We figured out how to kill it with oil.

  83. 83.

    sm*t cl*de

    April 18, 2013 at 4:48 am

    Stephen Jay Gould explained one possible reason some years ago.

    The predator-avoidance theory for prime-number cicadas predates Gould. There was an article in a 1975 or ’76 ‘Science’ which I can’t be arsed looking up right now.

  84. 84.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 4:48 am

    Fussin and fightin two hours before dawn.

  85. 85.

    Unsympathetic

    April 18, 2013 at 4:55 am

    What, no rank incompetant blaming it on Mooslims – or for the Teahadists, “A Dark-Skinned Man” – yet?

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  86. 86.

    Fort Geek

    April 18, 2013 at 4:58 am

    @Aet: I got beaned in the forehead by one of those things whilst riding my 10-speed a few years ago. I barely saw it as it dove out of its tree (maybe running from a bird?). Just a little dark blur–then *BAP!*

    Hurt like hell. Probably didn’t do the bug any good, either–at the very least we both got marks on our foreheads.

  87. 87.

    Baud

    April 18, 2013 at 5:02 am

    There is a chilling video of the explosion on reddit right now if you can stomach it.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    April 18, 2013 at 5:03 am

    @raven: I woke up early and put on tv which was a mistake. The officer in West was saying it was just like Iraq and the Murrah building and at that point, I just got up. It took a few minutes to sort out that this was probably an accident.

  89. 89.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 5:07 am

    @JPL: Yea, it’s not going to be good. The MSNBC interview with the young man was really chilling. A fertilizer plant next to a school and a nursing home doesn’t sound like a great idea.

  90. 90.

    Mary G

    April 18, 2013 at 5:07 am

    This eyewitness video is pretty horrifying, from quite a distance away.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    April 18, 2013 at 5:21 am

    @Mary G:

    That’s the one on reddit I mentioned above. That girl is heartbreaking.

  92. 92.

    Anne Laurie

    April 18, 2013 at 5:25 am

    @raven:

    A fertilizer plant next to a school and a nursing home doesn’t sound like a great idea.

    Free Market, ya commie socialist!

    Molly Ivins did some of her mordantly best work discussing the wonders of zoning non-laws in Texas… nobody with money wants to live downwind to the fertilizer plant, but schoolkids and helpless old people are just moochers who don’t have the power to buy off legislators.

    (And I say this as someone who bought a house located on two Superfund sites, on the grounds that at least we’d have a certfied list of all the toxins leaching out of our soil, and the water is piped in from the next town over, as the real estate agent kept pointing out.)

  93. 93.

    Unsympathetic

    April 18, 2013 at 5:26 am

    An open letter to Texas:

    I know you don’t believe in either science or zoning, but how about you just don’t allow people to live or children to be in school next door to something that goes boom?

    Signed,
    Smrt Person

  94. 94.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 5:26 am

    @Anne Laurie: Mea culpa

  95. 95.

    JPL

    April 18, 2013 at 5:28 am

    ABC news has pictures of the damage including an apartment building that was completely destroyed. link

  96. 96.

    kdaug

    April 18, 2013 at 5:35 am

    @Anne Laurie: You been to Houston? Good lord.

    At least around here there’s just a strip-mall or rock quarry between neighborhoods.

  97. 97.

    JPL

    April 18, 2013 at 5:37 am

    Here’s the address of the plant. Although, it’s on the edge of the town, it’s in the town. Zoning, how does that work…
    1471 Jerry Mashek Drive, West, TX 76691

  98. 98.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 5:37 am

    Presser on MSNBC from West.

  99. 99.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 5:40 am

    At least 160 casualties. “It is being treated as a crime scene. . .ATF is investigating”.
    Not the time for snark about the government and Texas.

    5-15 dead.

  100. 100.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 5:46 am

    Good presser.

  101. 101.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 6:06 am

    “The Texas City disaster was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history. The incident took place on April 16, 1947, and began with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp which was docked in the Port of Texas City. The fire detonated approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate[1] and the resulting chain reaction of fires and explosions killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department.[2] These events also triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.”

  102. 102.

    Baud

    April 18, 2013 at 6:09 am

    @raven:

    List of Industrial Disasters

  103. 103.

    raven

    April 18, 2013 at 6:19 am

    @Baud: Whoa, Halifax was incredible.

  104. 104.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    April 18, 2013 at 6:29 am

    So, I can’t be the only one whose first thought was “This would make a good cover for the theft of a couple of truckloads of ammonium nitrate.”

  105. 105.

    Cermet

    April 18, 2013 at 6:38 am

    What a horrible accident and to happen now. So many dead (currently they are indicating anywhere from 5 to 15 dead – I guess the ruble needs to be searched and missing people accounted for) and so many must be injured and maimed. The now homeless people who lived near this dangerous plant and the lucky workers who escape injury but will return to this type of job yet must try and forget the danger as they earn their living are all now suffering from this disaster.

    Few people realize how dangerous our food production and support system can be; fertilizer is an explosive (very powerful) as can powdered flour (and has killed people in the past.) Manure pits (whole families lost) and just the dangerous machinery that mains and kills so many farm workers.

    Our thoughts are with you all in Texas who are suffering from this tragedy.

  106. 106.

    Cermet

    April 18, 2013 at 6:50 am

    @Cermet: Did it again – too early and without coffee yet – Russian money is not where one should search for people in debris … meant rubble, not ruble.

  107. 107.

    Another Halocene Human

    April 18, 2013 at 7:03 am

    @andy: Ha ha, my thoughts exactly.

    Although NG Evangelion always had that “lone cicada” thing going on … 17 year cicadas are more of an incessant droning.

  108. 108.

    PeakVT

    April 18, 2013 at 8:41 am

    @JPL: According to the boundaries in GMaps, the fertilizer plant is outside of the town.

  109. 109.

    Kent

    April 18, 2013 at 9:18 am

    OK, I actually live in Waco so know this area.

    West is a small farm town about 20 miles north of Waco along I-35 known mostly for having a high concentration of Czech immigrants. During the 19th century many Czech farmers settled in the area and the town still retains its Czech flavor with an assortment of bakeries selling kolaches and other Czech baked goods to travelers along I-35. It is a favorite rest stop for travelers driving between Dallas and Austin and hosts a big Czech festival every year that draws hundreds of thousands for the food and music.

    The town itself is the typical declining farm town with a mostly boarded up main street and not much happening beyond the strip along the freeway where all the Czech-themed bakeries and shops are located.

    Yes….our local Congressman is Bill Flores who is the typical tea party clone. It wasn’t always that way. We used to have longtime Democrat Chet Edwards who for many years survived in the most Republican district in the country represented by a Democrat. But the Tom DeLay driven gerrymander and the 2010 teabagger wave finally washed Chet out and gave us this Bill Flores guy. Big loss all around as Chet was a great guy. I volunteered on a couple of his campaigns.

    As for this blast. I don’t think anyone thinks it was anything other than a horrible accident. I think the questions we’ll be looking to see answered are the following: (1) to what extent was this the result of any kind of negligence on the part of the company or overly lax regulation on the part of the state, and (2) which came first, the factory or the town. It looks like this plant was located somewhat on the edge of town. I’m wondering if the plant was there first and people built up homes and apartments around it, or if the residential area was there first and the factory located within a residential area later. Because one has to wonder why there were so many people living in such close proximity to such quantities of anhydrous ammonia.

  110. 110.

    TAPX486

    April 18, 2013 at 9:22 am

    @mdblanche: FEDERAL AID to Texas in the same proportion that the Texas congress critters voted aid for super storm sandy. If the government can’t afford it in New Jersey then they can’t afford it in states rights lets succeed from the Union Texas.

    I know it’s not a very Christian attitude but this the world the red state folks want so let them lie in the bed that they made.

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    April 18, 2013 at 9:24 am

    In other news, I read that the 17 year cicada returns around here this year, so I’ve basically decided that as a first-born son, despite being an atheist, I am running for the god damned hills. I’m not even going to wait for the rivers of blood or darkness or whatever the hell is supposed to happen.

    the reason this absolutely cracked me up is right now, it’s raining so hard, I’m looking for Noah’s Arc.

  112. 112.

    Kent

    April 18, 2013 at 9:30 am

    @TAPX486:

    Don’t worry. Our idiot governor and legislature are turning down tens of billions of medicaid expansion dollars because…..Obamacare and freedom! So Texas will quickly slide into the net donor category, having paid billions more in taxes than it takes back in Federal services.

  113. 113.

    brettvk

    April 18, 2013 at 10:07 am

    @Kent:

    It looks like this plant was located somewhat on the edge of town. I’m wondering if the plant was there first and people built up homes and apartments around it, or if the residential area was there first and the factory located within a residential area later. Because one has to wonder why there were so many people living in such close proximity to such quantities of anhydrous ammonia.

    My impression of Texas’ heritage of unfettered capitalism is that it doesn’t much matter which was built first, the plant or the community — weak or nonexistant zoning and public safety oversight insure that putting a nursing home next to a fertilizer plant is just a risk Texas’ masters are willing to take. I’m pretty sure the owners/operators of the plant, the nursing home and the apartment building don’t live within the blast zone.

  114. 114.

    BethanyAnne

    April 18, 2013 at 10:39 am

    Dad was from Texas City, born in 36. He used to tell stories of the refinery explosion. My brother still works in a refinery there.

  115. 115.

    Kent

    April 18, 2013 at 11:00 am

    @brettvk:

    My impression of Texas’ heritage of unfettered capitalism is that it doesn’t much matter which was built first, the plant or the community — weak or nonexistant zoning and public safety oversight insure that putting a nursing home next to a fertilizer plant is just a risk Texas’ masters are willing to take. I’m pretty sure the owners/operators of the plant, the nursing home and the apartment building don’t live within the blast zone.

    The wealthy in Texas have plenty of zoning. It’s just done privately through the HOAs that govern most upscale subdivisions and developments. And anyone who lives in a HOA knows that the busy bodies that manage them (mostly the old folks with too much time on their hands) are far more obsessive about minutia than any municipal zoning officer…regulating landscaping, paint colors, and an endless stream of details related to daily life.

    It’s just the poor that get no zoning.

  116. 116.

    Mnemosyne

    April 18, 2013 at 11:05 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Given what I’ve seen of the explosion and subsequent fires all around the plant, that probably would have been the worst plan ever. Anyone who tried to drive a couple of trucks away is a crispy critter by now.

  117. 117.

    Tone in DC

    April 18, 2013 at 11:12 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    I hope you are wrong about that. I seriously do.

    The pry-them-from-my-cold-dead-fingers crowd does not need access to that stuff, given how some of these idiots are behaving lately.

  118. 118.

    Incitatus for Senate

    April 18, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Hullabaloo has a great diagram showing how close the plant is to houses, a nursing home, a school, even a hospital. First reaction is sympathy for the victims, second is Holy shit how fucking stupid is Texas. A fertilizer plant is a bomb waiting to go off and these freaking morons built around it like it was a fucking mall.

    But they’re free all right, free to be dumber than dirt.

  119. 119.

    Chet

    April 18, 2013 at 12:06 pm

    @maya: What people don’t get is that there’s 17-year cicadas every year; 17 broods, staggered out year by year. A couple of the broods are, like, mega-huge- Broods II, V and X are quite extensive – so when those mature every 17 years, everybody says “oh, shit, 17-year cicadas!” Even though that happens more often than once every 17 years.

    Also one or two of the broods are flat-out extinct, so two years out of the 17-year cycle there’s no 17-year cicada emergence at all. (There’s also 13 broods of 13-year cicadas, so Magicada species are always out there, they just kind of wax and wane.)

  120. 120.

    Heliopause

    April 18, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    So I wake up here on the left coast and the TV briefly tells me that a town in Texas blew up, then they all go to blanket coverage of some damned church service. When are we going to quit wasting our collective time on alleged deities and actually start solving our human problems? But I digress.

    What I’m really wondering about is a couple of things; schools and nursing homes next to a fertilizer plant? Who the hell is zoning commissioner there, Michele Bachmann? And a fertilizer plant blowing up near Waco on April 18? Anybody else weirded out by that?

  121. 121.

    scav

    April 18, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    @PeakVT: Indeed, have to check the boundaries, ZIP names mean nothing. Anybody ever seen enough ZIPs called Unincorporated county X? In weird cases you can live in an incorporated city and your ZIP is from a different incorporated city. II can even think of one instance where the ZIP is actually from another State (CA with a NV zip, Deep Springs College). ZIP codes exist in their own world.

  122. 122.

    Incitatus for Senate

    April 18, 2013 at 12:33 pm

    @scav: Or you could just look at an aerial photograph.
    http://digbysblog.blogspot.com

  123. 123.

    BethanyAnne

    April 18, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    @Heliopause: Zoning? Not in Texas.

  124. 124.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    April 18, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    @Mnemosyne: The reports I’ve seen say the firefighters were called for a fire in an adjacent building, a dry barn holding ammonium nitrate. The explosion was ~50 minutes later. Plenty of time to get well away.

    @Tone in DC: Me, too. But setting a fire to cover a theft is a scenario that crops up so often in movies that I can see an action movie wannabee following the script.

  125. 125.

    ursine

    April 18, 2013 at 1:53 pm

    Don’t run. Put lamb’s blood on the door. Tried and true.

  126. 126.

    Mnemosyne

    April 18, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Imitating the movies tends not to work out well for the action-movie wannabes.

    I dunno, I guess I just don’t see much reason to freak out about a theoretical idea about what might have happened if someone thought of it ahead of time. It reminds me of when I got into an accident on my bike because some stupid teenager ran into me on his bike, and my mom gasped, “He could have been trying to rob you!” Well, yeah, I guess, if he had actually made any attempt to rob me. But he didn’t, so it pretty obviously was just an accident, yes?

  127. 127.

    TAPX486

    April 18, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    GOP congress critter from Texas is saying that when planning for worst case scenarios it’s never really worst case and who could have foreseen that ammonium nitrate would explode. And oh yes thanks federal government for the aid that you are providing. If Texas doesn’t suceed from the Union, I vote that we kick them out

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