Hurricane Harvey's aftermath

The devastation from hurricane "Harvey" will most likely be massive. Tonight, MSNBC & other news sources are reporting that a second fire broke out at a chemical plant located northeast of Houston:

In the reference to the smoke from the burning chemicals, the NYTimes is reporting the following:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/us/harvey-texas-flooding.html
'Richard Rowe, the chief executive of Arkema’s American unit, said at a news conference Friday morning, “We continue to advise everyone to avoid the smoke and seek medical attention if they are exposed.”'

This is how the chemical plant (located in Crosby, Texas) looked after the flooding:

So now we know, despite the Trump's administration claims about "job-killing" regulations, it is apparent that they (regs) would've played an important part in containing the environmental damage:

According to the NYTimes:

"Arkema was among many chemical companies that fought regulations issued by the Obama administration to tighten safety at facilities nationwide. The rules, which included provisions to require companies to coordinate more closely with emergency responders, were developed after a series of high-profile accidents, including a blast at a fertilizer plant in Texas City, Tex., that killed 15 people in 2013.

But in June the Trump administration delayed enforcement of the regulations until at least early 2019. That followed lobbying against the rules by the chemicals industry, including Arkema, which argued that they were too costly and would jeopardize trade secrets."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/texas-chemical-plant-explosion-arkema.html

Despite the smoke being described at "acrid, eye-irritating" in yesterday's news reports: 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-texas-chemical-plant-harvey-20170831-story.html

"Explosions and fires rocked a flood-crippled chemical plant near Houston early Thursday, sending up a plume of acrid, eye-irritating smoke and adding a new hazard to Hurricane Harvey's aftermath."

FEMA under Trump (which had initially described the smoke as "incredibly dangerous") were apparently forced to backtrack their initial statement:

http://abc7chicago.com/weather/arkema-chemical-plant-explosion-rocks-houston-area-as-most-danger-moves-east/2361185/

"The fires and two explosions that rocked the Arkema Inc. plant northeast of Houston ignited a 30- to 40-foot flame and sent up a plume of smoke that the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency initially described as "incredibly dangerous." FEMA later backed away from that statement, saying that Administrator Brock Long issued the warning out of an abundance of caution."


On top of all of it, & although we're still a long away from assessing how much damage Harvey has caused, the stress has already begun for some of Harvey's victims who will be required to take on debt to rebuild:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/business/harvey-aid-sba-disaster-loans.html

"As a brutal storm continues to pound the Gulf Coast, tens of thousands of homeowners are turning to the government for help in repairing and rebuilding. Much of the aid they receive will require taking on debt — an unpleasant surprise to those who may lack the income to pay it back.

And as victims of past disasters can attest, that aid may be cumbersome to obtain, insufficient to cover the cost of reconstruction, and take years to fully pay out."

CNN has some additional statistics about Harvey's aftermath:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/01/us/harvey-houston-texas-flood/index.html

"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.

Danger is far from over in places such as Beaumont, Texas, a city of 118,000 dealing with a cruel juxtaposition: inundated in spots with floodwater as its residents lack flowing tap water because two pumps there failed."

There will be several questions about the money & the amount of resources that will be needed to rebuild the areas devastated by this monster of a storm. Republicans from Texas who are used to complain about government spending as well as mock the risk from climate change will be forced to (hopefully at least) consider the other side of the political debate. 

I just hope the people of Texas who were affected (but who nevertheless are very strong & proved they do look out for their neighbors) are determined enough to overcome the immense obstacles which now lay in their path.