Harvey aftermath: ‘We need an army of FEMA agents,’ Houston mayor pleads

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Harvey aftermath: ‘We need an army of FEMA agents,’ Houston mayor pleads

1/09/2017 11:35pm

> From the WeatherWatch archives

A chemical fire has again broken out at a formerly flooded chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, that caught fire one day earlier.

Aerial video on CNN showed flames and black smoke rising from a building at the plant of Arkema, a chemical and materials company northeast of Houston. The plant makes liquid organic peroxides used primarily in the production of common consumer products, ranging from headlights assemblies for the automotive industry, to PVC for pipes, packaging and siding.

Arkema shut down the facility as Harvey approached last week. It evacuated employees and residents within 1.5 miles of the plant as a precaution after it flooded. Arkema said the evacuation zone remained in place and that there was “evidence suggesting” other fires may break out.

The rain, mercifully, has stopped in southeast Texas. But a week after Hurricane Harvey, boaters still are shuttling people away from a few high-water areas as millions struggle with what the storm has left — tens of thousands of destroyed homes and altered lives, and grim efforts to find those who may not have survived.

At least 47 people have died from the storm. Other statistics only begin to hint at the scope of the punishing deluge and what the months of recovery will entail:

About 27 trillion gallons of rain fell on Texas and Louisiana over six days — enough to fill the Houston Astrodome 85,000 times.
More than 72,000 people have been rescued.
And about 136,000 structures were flooded in Harris County, home of Houston, alone — about 10% of the structures on record there, the county says.

Full details, video and more news on the Texas/Houston floods via CNN here