April 16 marked the 66th anniversary of the massive explosions of fertilizer on ships in the harbor of Texas City, Texas — 576 people died in that 1947 disaster.
Last month marked the 76th anniversary of the massive natural gas explosion that destroyed the school in New London, Texas, killing about 300 people.
A few minutes ago, a disaster/rescue official in West, Texas, said he fears as many as 100 dead in the explosion of the fertilizer plant there, earlier this evening. Another fertilizer tank may explode, and the town is being evacuated.
New London, Texas, school after the March 18, 1937, natural gas explosion that killed about 300 people.
View of Texas City from Galveston, across the bay, after the explosion of the French ship SS Grandchamp, April 16, 1947. Photo from International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1259. 576 people died in that series of explosions.
The fertilizer tank that exploded contained several hundred times the amount of the same explosive used to destroy the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
How can any town ever prepare for that?
More:
- BREAKING: City Of West, Texas Evacuating After Fertilizer Plant Explosion (kake.com)
- Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas (cnn.com)
- Several injured in Texas fertilizer plant explosion (ctvnews.ca)
- A Fertilizer Plant Just Exploded Near Waco, Texas (theatlanticwire.com)
- Texas Fertilizer plant Explosion 100 injured (Video) (guardianlv.com)
- Explosion at Texas fertilizer plant (bbc.co.uk)
- Front page of NY Times on April 17, 1947, featuring Texas City disaster (Tip of the old scrub brush to
@richarddeitsch, and@timothypmurphy)
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 