Windows were blown out and homes were shaken in parts more than 40 miles away from the Port Neches chemical plant where the explosion came from. Many were told to evacuate their homes immediately in the area surrounding the Port Neches plant.
Witnesses described the blast as “feeling like a bomb”.
TJ Teddlie said: “After the first explosion, there was a second, smaller, explosion.
“The first explosion, I’ve been told could be felt into Port Arther. It was the TPC plant off Highway 366.”
The blast turned the sky orange and was captured on CCTV from homes in the area around the plant, which is just west of Texas.
A search and rescue operation was launched at the plant after it was rocked by the explosion at about 1am local time on Wednesday, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Evacuations of residents is continuing.
Unverified images show the plant ablaze.
The massive explosion at a petrochemical plant sent a giant fireball into the air and knocked locked doors off hinges as it shook homes.
Witnesses in Port Neches, Texas, said the powerful blast at the TPC Group plant, which contains extremely hazardous chemicals, “felt like a bomb” as it roused residents from their sleep with a deafening and alarming boom.
The city, which is east of Houston and just inland from the Gulf of Mexico, was struck by fear that toxic smoke or dangerous gases were wafting from the plant.
At least two workers were injured in the blast, which was captured by doorbell cameras.
The fire and subsequent explosions were so intense that they were detected by a local TV station’s weather satellite.
Residents in the neighbouring state of Louisiana also felt the explosion which sent flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air.
There were additional explosions as firefighters battled the inferno and people were urged to stay away from the plant, which has extremely flammable products including butadiene, butene-1, polyisobutylene and isobutylene derivatives.
The Environmental Protection Agency lists 1,3-butadiene as carcinogenic to humans.
Omar Hamza, whose home is less than a mile from the plant and was severely damaged, told Mirror Online: “All of our garage doors collapsed, all the doors leading outside were completely broken, all the windows blew out, and the entire neighborhood was in panic.”
The 22-year-old added: “I was packing for a trip tomorrow when I heard the bang. When I looked up I saw a bright flash and then watched all the doors and glass explode.
More to follow…