Fertilizer is perhaps the most common ingredient in IEDs in Afghanistan, Iraq and has also been used in bombs in the United States and around the world. Scientists have tried for years to make ammonium nitrate fertilizer less detonable without success. Until now.
In the wake of Monday’s deadly tornado in Oklahoma City, the media was widely praised for providing timely, accurate information to residents to help them stay safe during the storm. In many cases, the media was represented by the local TV meteorologist, who is on the front line of warning viewers of impending severe weather.
Search and rescuers were combing through the rubble of Moore, Okla., after a devastating tornado “tore the heart out” of the suburban Oklahoma city. At least 24 people were reported dead, with that toll expected to continue to rise as the rescue turns into a recovery.
A fertilizer plant in the small town of West, Texas, some 20 miles north of Waco, exploded Thursday evening, killing between five and fifteen people so far, with that number only expected to rise. A five-block area around the plant was devastated.