{"id":349492,"date":"2017-08-31T05:56:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T05:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=349492"},"modified":"2017-11-10T12:35:35","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T12:35:35","slug":"houston-flood-no-way-to-prevent-chemical-plant-blast-or-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/08\/houston-flood-no-way-to-prevent-chemical-plant-blast-or-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston flood: ‘No way to prevent’ chemical plant blast or fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
A chemical plant near the flooded city of Houston is expected to explode or catch fire in the coming days.<\/p>\n
During heavy rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, the Arkema plant at Crosby lost refrigeration of chemical compounds which need to be kept cool, and there is no way to prevent a possible fire, the company said.<\/p>\n
At least 33 people have been killed in the aftermath of the storm.<\/p>\n
US energy supplies have also been hit, as oil companies shut down pipelines.<\/p>\n
The US National Weather Service downgraded the former hurricane to a tropical depression but has forecast continuing heavy rainfall over eastern Texas and western Louisiana.<\/p>\n
What happened at the chemical plant?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Arkema chemical plant shut down its production on Friday, before the storm made landfall.<\/p>\n But 40in (102cm) of rainfall in the area flooded the site and cut off its power, the company said in a statement. Backup generators were also flooded.<\/p>\n The facility manufactures organic peroxides, and chemicals stored on site can become dangerous at higher temperatures.<\/p>\n “Any fire will probably resemble a large gasoline fire,” CEO Richard Rowe told Reuters news agency. “The fire will be explosive and intense.”<\/p>\n He said the black smoke produced would irritate skin, eyes and lungs.<\/p>\n “The high water that exists on site, and the lack of power, leave us with no way to prevent it.”<\/p>\n The fire is expected to be mostly contained to the site itself but residents of Harris County have been evacuated in a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) radius around the plant as a precaution.<\/p>\n The last remaining workers at the site were evacuated on Tuesday.<\/p>\n How are rescue efforts progressing?<\/strong><\/p>\n Parts of Texas have been hit by more than 50in of rainfall since Hurricane Harvey landed, setting new records before it was downgraded to a tropical storm and, late on Wednesday, to a tropical depression.<\/p>\n Rescue efforts continued overnight. Thousands of people have been rescued from floodwater throughout the state, and more than 32,000 people are still in emergency shelters.<\/p>\n