West

Uniquely West Texas: Sunday's Big Ol' Dust Devil Unleashes its Majestic Fury

It is not unusual for many of us here in Midland-Odessa to have a little bit of a commute to get to work every day. However, for some folks, it may be 15 to 20 minutes as opposed to bigger cities where they might be on the road for an hour. I myself have commuted to and from work for many years. I joke that I do it in my sleep sometimes. (truly only joking)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to provide funds to help rebuild the small Texas town of West, where a deadly fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people, leveled homes and a school. Remind us again, why do we fund this agency?

Among the images of horror and carnage we saw in the news this week there was a different, truly American image of people running to help with no regard for their own safety.

The massive explosion that blew apart the town of West, Texas late Wednesday evening registered 2.1 on the Richter Scale and could be felt as far as 65 miles away. Seconds after the explosion, a huge mushroom cloud resembling that of old photos of nuclear blasts could be seen miles away.