Houston Suburb Sees Wave of Sickness as Disaster Intensifies

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(Bloomberg) -- About 700 people sought treatment for nausea, headaches and other symptoms in the chemical disaster zone east of Houston, with 15 of the most-severe cases loaded onto ambulances and hauled to hospital emergency rooms.

The wave of sickness sweeping the industrial suburb of Deer Park and neighboring communities near Intercontinental Terminals Co.’s chemical storage complex was evident at an ad-hoc clinic set up after the March 17 fire and subsequent benzene releases. The 15 hospitalized patients were suffering serious respiratory difficulties, said Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health.

That tally only included people who sought help at the clinic in Deer Park, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of downtown Houston. No firm numbers were available from local authorities on how many more across the metropolitan area took themselves to hospitals or were rescued at home by paramedics.

On Friday afternoon, the disaster site temporarily reignited, with multiple sections of the complex belching smoke and flames, and sending a new black plume over the fourth-largest U.S. city.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/houston-suburb-sees-wave-of-sickness-as-disaster-intensifies/ar-BBV6T6R?li=BBnb7Kz

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1. I haven't heard as much about this as

I would expect at this point. I'm curious about regulations at the storage complex, or lack there of.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. HOLY CRAP, benzene releases ! First I've heard of this.

Benzene used to be a common lab chemical. Now that it's known to be carcinogenic everyone tries to avoid it, but it's kind of an unavoidable byproduct of petroleum refining.