The three blasts near Hemel Hempstead were so powerful they rocked houses up to 40 miles away and were heard in Holland.
More than 60 billion gallons of fuel erupted in a ball of flames hundreds of feet in the sky, creating an acrid cloud of smoke which is stretching for miles and moving south-eastwards."
Well, I've got no idea if this has made the news stateside, but Hemel Hempstead is about 12 or 13 miles from me, and from my upstairs window I've been able to make out the plume of smoke rising from the fire at ground level quite clearly. The skies have been a dark grey as far as the eye can see, and the air, whilst not having any discernible smell, has been heavy. Everyone around here has headaches, and many are feeling sick.
And, as you would expect, people have actually been having fights in local petrol stations as they queue to fill up their tanks, even though they've been told categorically that there isn't going to be a petrol shortage. Amazing.
I was fast asleep through all of the blasts, which occurred between 6 and 6.30am, even though they were loud enough to be clearly heard in mainland Europe. I had a bit of a wild time last night, and having finally drifted off at around 5 I awoke at 10 and wandered downstairs to make a coffee. When my ex phoned to ask me what I thought about "the explosion" I had no idea whatsoever as to what she was talking about.
How embarrassing is that?
P.S. I'll reveal a little more (maybe even a lot more) about last night... tomorrow. I'm still in recovery.
16 comments:
ooh, it's gone all strange again.
I was thinking of your little one and hoping that her chest is going to be ok.
The spokesperson from the company was saying that they had an exemplary safety record. Not anymore they ain't. Either that or she was hinting at something more underhand.
Wow! I hope there was no loss of life at site of the explosion.
Not knowing what the ex was talking about is nothing to be embarrassed about. Once, my ex phoned (from 1000 miles away) at 3 am to ask if we were OK after the big earthquake. "Er, WHAT big earthquake?" Turns out his mother had phoned to say we'd had a big earthquake so he was checking on the kids, but we'd slept right through (a fne sign that it wasn't BIG)!
Um, what EXACTLY were you doing up/out 'til 5?? Having fun, I hope!
Glad that you're safe.
A wild night last night? Ooh...please tell.
Has no one else heard the report about the plane going into it? Whatever, this stinks of SpB blundering.
However, ya--a---wn, explosions do happen.
Some of you may recall the explosion going off at the French SNPE factory twelve days after 9/11. It was on the front pages of the newspapers. Coincidence?
I'm many many miles from the oil depot, though I did see the cloud from it drift over for most of the day. Looked a little like a thundercloud looking towards London, though you knew the weather was totally wrong for tunder. Very odd.
Oh yes, and I'm all ears about last night. Well, not literally. That would be weird.
Zooz, thanks for that thought, although I was a trifle confused for a moment when I read your second paragraph.
Yoursecret - that was very funny. An earthquake??
UB, thanks. Yes, WILD...
FJL - ah, a conspiracy theory. About time.
Trix... yes, very odd. Not as odd as you being all ears, of course...
This has got to be the scariest thing to witness. I do hope ya'lls health is not severely affected.
I'll be keeping you in my thoughts.
"a bit of a wild time"? Pray tell T... hehe
x
I saw it on the news around 9am here..they were reporting it as a "possible" terrorist attack and authorities weren't ruling anything out yet. Now they were reporting later today that it doesn't look like an act of terrorism at all. Who knows?
Looks like Tony had a hot date...lol..did ya get some, huh? Please DO tell, I need to live vicariously through the sexual escapades of fellow bloggers...lol....for a while!
Yeah for staying up late!
Glad you're all ok there..that's pretty close to the center of it....amazing photos too btw.
Looking forward to hearing about your long evening...
wow... amazing images... I've been watching the news to catch any of it and have seen little so far, even on CNN. Huhnh. Frightening.
I too am looking forward to details on your 'hangover'....
;)
Good lord! We haven't heard that much stateside...of course. Dumb American news sites.
Glad you are ok.
Goose
Great photos, WDKY! Am I right in assuming they're your handiwork?
I hope the smoke from it isn't heading in your and the kids' direction.
Ginny x
I was thinking about you when I heard about it on the news. Glad you're OK.
Details about the wild night. Otherwise you're just being a blogtease.
hope all of you'll are fine T.. heard about it on the news, not much in detail tho.. take care.. and waaaitin for the details!
-check
Ruthie, we're all fine, thank you.
LL... I've obliged, but vicarious sex leaves a little something still to be desired. Doesn't it?
Kimmy, thanks. The photos are amazing, I agree.
CLK - hi! Let me know what else you need/want and I'll see if I can oblige.
Goose, you have to do somethoing about your news coverage. It's very... insular, isn't it?
Ginny, the smokes heading off towards the south coast now. Hoperfully it'll peter out soon though.
NYM, come on now... I'm anything but a tease!
Thanks Check, as always. Details?
Glad to know that you are OK. I didn't realise that you were that close. My friends kids couldn't go to school today as they are in that vicinity. I must admit that I couldn't help but laugh towards the end of your post. That must have been *some* shag!
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