NEWS: Large Explosions Rock New Orleans

There were reports early on (within the first day or so) about the smell of gas. Could be gas for commercial use or industrial.

If you want my best guess at this stage it would be that there has been a build up of gas from leaking pipes. A spark or fire has ignited the gas and the explosion happened near this chemical plant.

Similarly, with live power lines down leaked gas pockets could easily ignite.

It might not be the end of this.

People above are saying that this should be more likely earlier but it may be that a tipping point has been reached with expanding gas pockets and live power lines.

Of course it could be sabotage but I think that's unlikely.

as posted by YaYo
Maybe the Army got sick of the lawlessness and decided to drop a 500 pound bomb to scare the crap out of the mogadishu gangs that are running around everywhere terrorizing.

Thats entirely logical, YaYo, yeah, thats it, like they did in doing 9/11, right?

:shk:




seekerof


[edit on 2-9-2005 by Seekerof]

Latest.

It's a Paint Plant.

Apologies for short post.

Certainly hope if its railway cars that they're not hazard trains. I'd think that theres a possibility that there are hazard trains in a big city like new orleans at any moment tho no? Hopefully if there were before the hurricane hit the people responsible for them moved them out in time.

The thing is, when you don't have flood insurance and yuor place is ruined, the only recourse is fire which is covered by your standard insurance. Expect more fires.

Originally posted by John bull 1
Latest.

It's a Paint Plant.

Apologies for short post.

Ah well if it's a paint plant then there are R14 and/or R14/15 chemicals that will actually catch on fire from contact with water (there might even be R15/29 classed chemicals which would be bad news).

It would make sense, and so would a fire days after the initial floods. All it would take was for water to eventually seep into a railcar or ground container (containers built to withstand internal pressures and not external pressures like tons of water) to explosively ignite the contents.

Sorry for the long guote, but the Chemicals Catherder refered to above are classifed as follows:

R1 Explosive when dry
R2 Risk of explosion by shock, friction, fire or other sources of ignition
R3 Extreme risk of explosion by shock, friction, fire or other sources of ignition
R4 Forms very sensitive explosive metallic compounds
R5 Heating may cause an explosion
R6 Explosive with or without contact with air
R7 May cause fire
R8 Contact with combustible material may cause fire
R9 Explosive when mixed with combustible material
R10 Flammable
R11 Highly flammable
R12 Extremely flammable
R14 Reacts violently with water
R14/15 Reacts violently with water, liberating extremely flammable gases
R15 Contact with water liberates extremely flammable gases
R15/29 Contact with water liberates toxic, extremely flammable gases
R16 Explosive when mixed with oxidising substances
R17 Spontaneously flammable in air
R18 In use, may form flammable/explosive vapour-air mixture
R19 May form explosive peroxides
R20 Harmful by inhalation
R20/21 Harmful by inhalation and in contact with skin
R20/21/22 Harmful by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed
R20/22 Harmful by inhalation and if swallowed
R21 Harmful in contact with skin
R21/22 Harmful in contact with skin and if swallowed
R22 Harmful if swallowed
R23 Toxic by inhalation

213.212.77.20...

[edit on 9/2/05 by FredT]

It's still burning, more toxics into the environment for these people, at least it looks like the wind is taking it over water. This absolutely surreal, I never thought I would see such events in my lifetime. How much worse can it get?

Originally posted by Simulacra
What the hell is going on over there? I mean this is just one city, what if a disaster of this magnitude occured in 2-3 states? We would be incapable of handling it.

Thats the question you should be asking your president! He sent thousands of troops halfway round the world to fight an illegal war and now it seems you are incapable of providing basic things such as water to the survivors....wonder why that is

[edit on 2-9-2005 by John bull 1]

What this shows us is that if there were to simultaneous terror attacks in multiple cities, we would not be able to control the lawlessness. What thsis also shows is how easy we can be thrown into Decadence and somehow come to the conclusion it is OK to rob, kill and hurt others for your losses.

The naitional guard is deployed, but from all I read it is basically a war zone. I hope the chemicals in the fires do not continue to spread, and hopefull there will be no toxic clouds killing.


ps..why must every post contain a Bush bash or a 9/11 conspriacy reference. There is a time and place, and folks, this isn't it.

from the linked article, pg 1;

One man, Keith Brooks, said: "It wasn't fit for a dog. The sick and elderly were ignored, the food was slop and I saw a 14-year-old girl get raped."

WTF is that #, the dirt bag ought to be killed, he witnessed that # and didn't stop it?!







[edit on 2-9-2005 by ADVISOR]

Originally posted by Simulacra
What the hell is going on over there? I mean this is just one city, what if a disaster of this magnitude occured in 2-3 states? We would be incapable of handling it.

It did happen in 2-3 states, New Orleans is just the most chaotic. The explosions are probably some of the broken gas veins all over the area, that's why there have been so many fires and why many hospitals were evacated. The area of Gulf Port, Mississippi actually took more damage than my hometown of New Orleans. The problem is that most of the people who stayed in New Orleans were the ones that either (1) couldnt afford to get out or (2) wanted some new stuff like houses or cars that were left behind when the water goes down. New Orleans is making headlines more than anywhere else mainly because of those factors.

ADVISOR:

Agree with you totally. Someone doing that (re raping a 14 yr old) deserves a single shot to the head or, if no handgun is available, a very swift strike to the side of the head with a metal pipe or something equivalent.

Unfortunately there are a lot of cowards these days. My X GF used to always get mad at me for breaking up fights ...mind you, I would only break them up if one bloke was on the ground and the other was kicking him - not fair in my book - once a bloke is down, you wait a little...if he gets up then you can start on him again. His choice

Cheers

JS

A bigger picture...


(AP/Scanpix)

It does indeed look bad. And poisonous. The only positive is that it won´t be so dark there during the night.

Awesome pic but whoever took the shot was at risk being downwind of it. That is the river in the foreground which is south and downwind of the plant!

Oh... thats not good... If that is toxic the devsatation could be even worse than we had originaly thought.

This does sound bad; I wonder why more news agencies aren't covering this. Chemical fires can be dangerous, deadly, and environmentally apocalyptic. We need to get this under control, all of it in New Orleans, together.

original news source: www.freenewmexican.com

A chemist from Los Alamos National Laboratories is analyzing data from a chemical fire in hurricane-devastated New Orleans.

Bob Kroutil, based in Los Alamos, and meteorologist Mark Thomas of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were working with lab-developed equipment attached to an airplane Friday.

They inspected smoke plumes from a burning railroad car filled with chloromethane gas, Kroutil said by telephone from Los Alamos, where he was analyzing the data. Thomas was in the plane with a pilot and co-pilot.


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

original information source: www.freenewmexican.com

Chloromethane has a faint, sweet odor that is noticeable only at levels that may be toxic. It is heavier than air and is extremely flammable. It is soluble in water, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, glacial acetic acid, and absolute alcohol. It reacts with ammonia to form methyl amine hydrochlorides, and slowly decomposes in the presence of water to become corrosive to metals. It reacts explosively with lithium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Spontaneously flammable aluminum trimethyl is formed upon reaction of chloromethane with aluminum in the presence of trace aluminum chloride.

Exposure to high levels of chloromethane can cause convulsions, coma, and death. The central nervous system is the major target of chloromethane toxicity. Exposure at lower levels can cause staggering, blurred or double vision, dizziness, fatigue, personality changes, confusion, tremors, muscle cramping, headache, uncoordinated movements, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice. Exposure can harm the liver and kidneys and affect the heart rate and blood pressure. People who have kidney or liver disease, anemia, or neurological deficits may be more susceptible to the toxic effects of chloromethane.

Please visit the link provided for the complete information, re-distributed for educational purposes. Permission to reprint granted by the National Safety Council, a membership organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health.

I would expect large amounts of hydrogen chloride gas depending on how large this fire is. HCl, is hydrochloric acid when in water. BAD, bad, BAD, bad....

[edit on 4/9/2005 by Seth76]