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WHAT'S NEW
-- "It was like a nuclear bomb went off," West Mayor Tommy Muska said.
-- Some 10 to 15 buildings have been "totally demolished" and "probably 50 homes (were) heavily damaged," said George Smith, community emergency medical services director.
-- The fertilizer plant was near an apartment complex and a nursing home, authorities said.
-- Some people might be trapped in collapsed buildings, Smith said.
-- "I expect there's going to be many fatalities and many more injured people," he added.
-- State troopers in gas masks set up roadblocks, waving away cars coming off the highway
PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
The blast
-- A massive explosion hit the West fertilizer plant some 18 miles north of Waco, Texas.
-- At least two emergency medical personnel are dead, said EMS Director Smith.
-- Hillcrest Hospital in Waco was told to anticipate 100 injured people.
-- More than 60 patients were received Wednesday night, hospital CEO Glenn Robinson said, with victims suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations. While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious."
-- A number of nearby residents were being evacuated because of the possibility of another explosion, officials said.
-- Chrystal Anthony said she saw the flames engulf a nursing home and an apartment complex.
The response
-- A field triage station was set up on a football field near the plant, Robinson said.
-- At least six helicopters were flying out the injured, Robinson said. Others were being transported by ambulance, and some were getting to the hospital by car, he added.
-- Aircraft flying below 3,000 feet were banned from going within a 3-mile radius of West, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
-- Hazardous material teams were being rushed to the scene, an emergency management official said.
-- Texas Gov. Rick Perry was working to get resources into the area, his spokesman said.
-- Anhydrous ammonia is a concern of those in the vicinity of the explosion,Smith said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anhydrous ammonia is a pungent gas with suffocating fumes that is used as a fertilizer.
-- Area residents told CNN that they were warned about the toxic substance.
Originally posted by ButterCookie
America appears to be under attack.
reply to post by wondermost
Heck, I've got a wife that I have to convince every now and then that everythings gonna be alright. North Korea isn't gonna nuke us. This isn't the end of days. Then when she walks away satisfied at my answers to her questions I have to convince myself of the same thing.
These times are scary, no doubt. And I certainly wasn't trying to make enemies with you, so I do apologise for coming off very condescending. I think its safe to say my nerves are a little worked up at the moment.
Originally posted by wondermost
reply to post by tetra50
Same to you Tetra50. As long as we have the internet we can, as a community, be here for each other on some level or the other. I know ATS isn't a support group or anything, but rest assured that when TSHTF we will be here for each other as long as we have that danged internet access.
Take care of yourself as well.
Originally posted by wondermost
reply to post by ButterCookie
I totally understand. When you have this type of thing going on at universities with mass shootings happening in the not so distant past and the Boston bombing, as they were reporting" several other unexploded packages in an ongoing terrorist event" I almost called my wife home from work, just in case.
If things like this keep happening, be it TPTB causing it or a legitimate terrorist group, you can expect to see a real clamp down by the government. Its either designed or they won't have a choice.
I was at the grocery store earlier today and notice that either I am a pretty paranoid guy, or everyone was looking at everyone else in the store with extreme unease. If anything has been shown over the past months is that you don't know who it could be or where its coming from, but it could happen just about anywhere at anytime. The true source is debatable, and the end goal is horrific to think about.
I like to look ahead at the dawn, but man it sure is dark out here right now. But we gotta get through it, and we ain't gonna do it alone.
Authorities dealing with a huge explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, were preparing for a possible shift in the winds that could push toxic clouds toward areas not yet affected by the disaster, officials said early Thursday.
There are two major classes of incidents resulting in explosions: In the first case, the explosion happens by the mechanism of shock to detonation transition. The initiation happens by an explosive charge going off in the mass, by the detonation of a shell thrown into the mass, or by detonation of an explosive mixture in contact with the mass. The examples are Kriewald, Morgan, Oppau, Tessenderlo and Traskwood. In the second case, the explosion results from a fire that spreads into the ammonium nitrate (AN) itself (Texas City, Brest, Oakdale), or to a mixture of an ammonium nitrate with a combustible material during the fire (Repauno, Cherokee). The fire must be confined at least to a degree for successful transition from a fire to an explosion (a phenomenon known as "deflagration to detonation transition", or DDT). Pure, compact AN is stable and very difficult to initiate. However, there are numerous cases when even impure AN did not explode in a fire. Ammonium nitrate decomposes in temperatures above 210 °C. Pure AN is stable and will stop decomposing once the heat source is removed, but when catalysts are present (combustible materials, acids, metal ions, chlorides. ..) the reaction can become self-sustaining (known as self-sustaining decomposition, SSD). This is a well-known hazard with some types of NPK fertilisers, and is responsible for the loss of several cargo ships.