“Due to a chemical plant fire in the Shepherd, Texas area all Livingston area residents and businesses are being advised to SHELTER IN PLACE until further notice. It is further advised to turn your HVAC (Air Conditioning) systems off,” the police department said in a Facebook (banned in Russia) post.
San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office also posted on its Facebook page that evacuations from the affected are currently in progress while many witnesses are posting videos of a huge column of smoke, several thousand feet high, coming from the explosion site.