59 years ago this month---the Texas City disaster:

[caty]

April 16, 1947, a ship in the port of Texas City, Texas exploded. This explosion set off a chain of explosions that killed almost 500 people and injured at least 3,500 people.

My father, a welder in Michigan, was one of many who went to Texas City to help rebuild the companies and city. It has always surprised me that few people have heard of this, the worst industrial disaster of our country.

"The sheer power of the explosion and the towering cloud of black smoke billowing into the sky told everyone within twenty miles that something terrible had happened. People on the street in Galveston were thrown to the pavement, and glass store fronts shattered. Buildings swayed in Baytown fifteen miles to the north. The towering smoke column served as a grim beacon for motorists driving along the Houston-Galveston highway, some of whom immediately turned toward Texas City to help. In Texas City itself, stunned townspeople who started toward the docks soon encountered wounded persons staggering out of the swirling vortex of smoke and flame, most covered with a thick coat of black, oily water. many agonizing hours were to pass before a semblance of order began to replace the shock and confusion caused by this totally unexpected and devastating event."

"Red Cross and the Texas Department of Public Safety counted 405 identified and 63 unidentified dead. Another 100 persons were classified as "believed missing" because no trace of their remains was ever found. Estimates of the injured are even less precise but appear to have been on the order of 3,500 persons."

Read more and see pictures of the devastation:
http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html

[babylonsister]

1. This explosion melted cars that were driving by; it was

a biggie. I wasn't yet born, but the stories are legend.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Book plug: "City on Fire", by Bill Minutaglio

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0002Y139G.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/B0002Y139G/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-3486182-3912736#reader-link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/029277723X/ref=dp_image_0/104-3486182-3912736?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
I actually learned about this from a college chemistry book; it was mentioned as an example of what happens when a reaction produces enough heat to become sulf-sustaining and undergo thermal runaway. The explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate, the same explosive used in the Oklahoma City bombing. After the disaster, mfgrs began shipping ammonium nitrate only as wax-coated pellets, to prevent future accidents.

I remember just after the OC bomb, Dan Rather said on the CBS Evening News that it was the largest non-nuclear explosion on US soil. I remember thinking at the time, "Dan, you're a Texan, you should know better!". The TC explosion was immensely larger.

There was also a "forgotten" disaster near Halifax, Nova Scotia, during WWI. A ship loaded with munitions blew up in the strait and destroyed much of the town. Search "Halifax explosion" at Amazon.com and you'll find at least three books.

[donco6]

3. I'm a disaster buff. That's a biggie.

Shows what a ship full of fertilizer can do.