Houston Explosions
Aug 19, 2004

Signs of the Times #1061

Texas gas facility explodes, dozens evacuated [Aug 19] ‘An explosion early Thursday at an underground gas storage facility forced dozens of residents from their homes, authorities said. The cause of the explosion was not determined. Moss Bluff is about 40 miles northeast of Houston. The area is dotted with manmade caverns inside salt domes, which are the world's largest storage site for explosive hydrocarbons. ‘ [and from another source] Second Explosion Rocks Texas Gas Facility [Aug 20] ‘A second explosion in less than 24 hours rocked a burning underground gas storage facility early Friday, prompting authorities to expand an evacuation zone around the site. The fire at Duke Energy´s Moss Bluff natural gas facility intensified overnight, an official said. The second explosion was reported at 1:15 AM and was seen as far as 20 miles away, witnesses said. Authorities had decided to let the fire ignited in the first explosion Thursday burn itself out, a process they said would take several days. The explosion was blamed on leaking gas. The second explosion Friday morning happened because the fire caused a valve to give way on top of the storage cavern.’ [Note: Texas is in the stretch zone.]