There is No Joy in Texas
The little town of West, Texas, has been leveled to the ground. What was is no more.
We can take small comfort that the explosion was after school was out or the toll could have been much, much worse.
I cannot and will not speculate on the cause of this horror that came without warning to so many people going about their lives expecting to be here today.
I am, however, lifted by the spirit of the American people, who run toward blazing hellholes and flying shrapnel to rescue people they don’t even know. We are good people.
Jackie Sue at Yellowdoggrannie.blogspot.com tells us all about the strength of the people in West.
1Go to her site. West will abide.
“We are good people.” Some days that is about all that keeps me going.
2This is an unbelievable horror.
JJ, if you hear of how the people of West may be helped, please let us know.
3MCPO – here’s the link to the Democratic blogger in West, Texas.
4As usual, the heroes are the first responders, who a lot of times sacrifice their lives to save others.
I have a lot going around in my head about this tragedy, but now isn’t the time to voice my thoughts.
Right now, I’m sending good thoughts and prayers out to the people of West.
Condolences to the families and loved ones of those lost and injured.
I know that soon there will be other things that can be done.
Some of our people in America have taken some hits this week.
As we have in the past, we will survive.
5J.J.: I visit her site a couple of times a week.
6Thanks
I sometimes have a sneaking suspicion that corporations kill more people than terrorists do.
7I went to undergrad and law school in Waco and practice law there for a year and one-half. West is a charming little town with the best kolaches in Texas. Every year they would have a Czechfest and the food was always great.
I am praying for the citizens of this charming little town
8Reminiscent of the Texas City disaster, but thankfully smaller. Anhydrous ammonia is nasty stuff. I worked with it once, but only in small quantities and always under a hood. It’s stored in pressurized tanks (ours was the size of a 4-foot oxygen tank). The article I’m reading says it started with a fire, though not what kind. Whether the fertilizer on site blew taking out the tanks, which made the explosion worse, or the other way around, fertilizer and its components in a contained area (especially when compressed) are deadly when heat/spark is introduced to the mix.
I’ve always loved that little town. My prayers to all.
9Never ascribe to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity. Boston = malice. West more probably was an accident, possibly preventable.
http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/04/boston_bruins_national_anthem.php?ref=fpblg
Haven’t learned the embedded-link-thingy yet, but if you want a quick uplift, take a look at this. Hockey players weeping. A WHOLE HOCKEY STADIUM singing the national anthem. Loudly! I didn’t know that many people knew all the words any more! I cried too. For West, Boston, and a 9-year old boy who died in a snow-camouflaged moulin in Alaska. A group of our armed servicemen training nearby were given permission to recover his little body, at great risk, from that 20-foot glacial sinkhole for his poor father. Forget the Senate and the Lege for a minute: there are still PLENTY of good reasons to be a proud American dammit, just like JJ says!
10My deepest sympathies to all involved.
LynnN, I fear you are very probably right.
11You have to wonder about a town that would allow a middle school to be constructed across the street from a chemical plant and so near to a nursing home.
12That plant has been cited by the EPA at least once recently, and the people in West have been trying to get it closed down or moved for years I understand. Why it was built next to a school, homes, businesses and a nursing home makes the mind boggle. It’s a miracle more people weren’t hurt or killed.
13I am so sorry for the folks in West and the anguish of those who have lost their loved ones and homes. But I have to ask: who puts a nursing home next to a fertilizer plant?
14i lost power due to storms last nite, but not before hearing about West. i sat in my home in the dark praying.
godspeed, and condolences to all.
15Well, about a four-block area has been leveled, much of the town still remains.
16However, that does take away from the horror and shock.
I lived in Houston many, many years ago when a tanker truck filled with ammonia fell off the third deck of the Southwest freeway. The fumes killed people in their cars before they even knew what had happened. It’s so “corporate” for the owners of the factory to tell the towns people of West the site was safe enough for a middle school and a nursing home to be located near it. I believe in karma and there is going to be some mighty payback.
17Collectively, we post here a lot about the mean, crazy stuff that happens in Texas. For the moment, let us be grateful for the courage and compassion, that Texans are capable of, and which is so evident in the response to this horror.
18Geez, what a week: Boston, Ricin letters, gun vote, West explosion. If we can end this week on a positive note, I’ll be grateful. We all need some good news.
19I still recall the first question from the audience at a Rick Perry Rally in 2010 in Abilene, Texas… “Governor, how can we get the EPA off our backs?” Texas has, for all its open spaces, some of the worst air pollution in the US, the oil messes, the fracking-to-be nightmares, and one of the most polluted bays in the world in Port Arthur. Water tables are not replenishing. Environmentally, Texas is a red hot mess. I frankly think we are lucky we do not have more atrocities like this explosion in West. God Bless America and vote Republican…..cut the education budget and keep the electorate very stupid.
20at one time the fertilizer was on the outskirts of town..the town grew..
21I tell people that come to West, by Goddess, Texas to set their watches back 50 years..cause it’s the 50’s here, with the same values people had in the 50’s. Its sort of like Mayberry, but with Beer. We even have a Barber, but he plays a guitar and sings for you..We have the best kolaches and the biggest hearts in Texas…come see me some time, I’ll buy you a skunk egg.
Thanks for coming by, Yellow Dog Granny. Our hearts ache with yours today. If you hear any news, please let us know.
22Love and prayers to the people of Texas.
I am sorry to say this, but I seem to remember Gov goodhair saying to businesses -come to Texas, where we don’t have all those pesky regulations.
23Just recalled something . . hey, I’m 73 . . . it works like that sometimes. The town my family came from is a totally storybook looking place with one of the best looking town halls built int he 18th century anywhere in the country but for all that, over the years the center of town was the feed and seed store which was right smack in the middle of a diversified commercial/housing block. The feed and seed also carried big time type fertilizer like the kind that blew up in West, Texas. When the town was developing in the 18th century, the only graded land was to each side of the feed/seed/fertilizer place and those buildings are now damn old. Thats how the whole town evolved. One little hunk of buildings simply spread outward. I don’t get back to that little town as much as I would like and the last time I was there the feed/seed/fertilizer place was totally gone. Just a hole in that row of buildings. It seems it was condemned at some point and just ripped out. Farmers now buy their feed/seed/fertilizer on line and get it delivered to their doors.
24Prayers from Iowa.. you girls are the gentle side of “tough
25stuff” and seeing people come together in times like this is heartbreaking but reassuring that the good in people rises above daily nonsense and we remember who we are and why God loves us in spite of ourselves.
@Jackiesue / JDG,
Regarding the fund set up for the people of West that is listed on your web page – Did you set this up and are you managing the funds?
26I recently read about funds donated for other tragedies being used for things like memorials when there were victims who were unable to pay their medical bills. This is not something that a pagan left-wing granny would allow to happen. I know this because I’m a pagan left-wing granny.