West Texas satellite before and after

[liberal N proud]

[dballance]

1. Wow, Just Wow. That Building Next to the Track Used to be a School

Really shows the devastation. All the houses that are just not there anymore. And the West Intermediate School that's been damaged.

[Coyotl]

4. On the ground photos

:large

[Coyotl]

2. OMG, anhydrous storage near a school?

[Rex]

8. YES!

And a retirement home!

[Coyotl]

16. Across the tracks from an apartment building too!

How many towns in the Midwest have this situation?

[Faygo Kid]

3. Tragic. I assume Gov. Perry will not request federal aid.

Oh wait - too late.

Actually, I hope the good folks who were devastated get the help they need and that all Texans come to realize the federal government is not their enemy - it's their Texan politicians like Perry and Cruz that don't give a shit about them except as useful dupes.

I'm not holding my breath, but it's OK if my tax dollars go to help them anyway.

[valerief]

5. Yep, he was horny for that evil federal aid. Couldn't get it fast enough. nt

[TX Screwball]

7. Dang!

I have drove through West,TX many times going to Dallas for work. Very nice folks there.

So Gov. perry is a Dickhead. I agree. Hate him.

How about give some Love to the Folks of Texas before ya start throwing stones.


Peace and Love for the Hurting. That is all I ask...


Peace and Love.

[valerief]

12. Huh? Throwing stones? I'm only throwing them at Perry for being an asshole

who rails against federal aid but demands it ASAP when he wants it, and I won't stop.

Of course, the people of West deserve federal aid. Duh. I'm a Democrat. That goes without saying.

The person/people responsible for this tragedy--the owners--should be imprisoned for life.

What on earth did you think I was saying????????????????

[NoPasaran]

18. The thing to remember about Rick Perry

He's not some scourge visited upon us from the sky like the drought. He's governor because people keep voting for him. Specifically, the people of West vote for him. In 2010, it was Perry 53% over 44% for Bill White. In 2012, they voted 77% for Romney and 73% for Teabagger Ted Cruz. (These are from the election returns for Precinct 67 of McLennan County, which has the Community Center in West as its polling place.)

I feel terrible for the people of West and the disaster that has befallen their community. But the reason they live in a town where it's perfectly OK to build a school across the tracks from a fertilizer plant, a plant which doesn't have an emergency plan, a plant which has tons and tons of potentially explosive chemicals on hand and doesn't even bother to mention that fact to local authorities in case there's a problem and the volunteer fire department has to respond is they vote for that.

Yes, Rick Perry is an asshole. But it's the people in all these miserable little shithole towns across the state who make him Governor Asshole.

[valerief]

22. Yes, people are as stupid and greedy as the assholes they vote into office. nt

[treestar]

23. Yes, believing it is in the capitalists' self interest

to have an emergency plan and keep the chemicals safely - that they will therefore do it. The magic invisible hand. Maybe some are rethinking that.

[SharonAnn]

24. Yes, we have some of the same stuff here in East TN. They keep voting in

(overwhelmingly) the extreme right-wing. So, unfortunately, we all reap what the majority of the voters sow.

It's really discouraging that they don't see the connection.

[Terra Alta]

6. Wow. An entire town has basically been wiped off the map.

Sad.. very sad.

[Rex]

9. The blast radius looks enormous.

The owner has a lot to answer for!

[ReRe]

10. This is what you call...

K&R

... Devastaregulation.

[redqueen]

11. So sad...

[ljm2002]

13. Aren't there still 60 people unaccounted for?

That was the last I heard. I'm expecting the death toll to rise. I wonder how many people were home in those apartments...

[PeaceNikki]

14. Just terrible. My heart breaks for that community.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. wow

[JaneyVee]

17. Why does it look like there are more trees AFTER the explosion?

[lpbk2713]

20. The 'before' pic may have been taken in the late fall or early winter.

As per the wear on the football field.

The 'after' was taken after some spring growth had started.

[GeoWilliam750]

19. Same thing happened in my hometown 40 years ago

[Brickbat]

21. When capitalism sneezes, the rest of us catch pneumonia.