Chemical plant nears explosion

CROSBY, TEXAS» Officials evacuated this small town east of Houston on Wednesday afternoon as they braced for the imminent explosion of a chemical plant that was ravaged by floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey.

Volatile chemicals at the plant, which is in 6 feet of water, could catch fire or explode at any moment in coming days, officials said.

Owned by the French firm Arkema, the facility’s coolant system and inundated backup power generators have failed, according to the company. The plant lost primary power and two sources of emergency backup power, said Richard Rowe, chief executive of Arkema’s North American unit.

Local media reported that a mandatory evacuation zone was established for a 1.5-mile radius as the last workers attempted to resolve the problem. Police cruisers and SUVs sealed off access to the Crosby plant. Parts of the highway nearby were underwater.

“We have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire,” Rowe said. “The high water and lack of power leave us with no way to prevent it.”

The plant manufactures organic peroxides, a family of compounds used in everything from pharmaceuticals to construction materials such as countertops and pipes.

But the material must remain cold otherwise it can combust.

A continuous flow of trucks, many hauling boats to participate in flood rescue efforts, approached the police barricade near the facility Wednesday afternoon only to be turned away.

“It won’t wipe us off the map, but it’ll be a problem,” one officer said from a squad car of the impending explosion.

James and Deborah Hyer sat frustrated in a white pickup with a plant water tower in view. They were waiting with their three young children for the police to clear out so they could return to their home in Dayton, about 10 miles north.

They were out of milk and water, with local stores closed or cleaned out of supplies.

Their newly purchased double-wide trailer on top of a hill escaped much of the floodwaters, Deborah Hyer said, but some of their friends living at the bottom experienced complete devastation.

“They lost everything,” she said.

One friend of hers, a single mother of five children, lived in a house on 17-foot stilts, but the water rose so high she had to evacuate, she said.