[naviga:h3]Chemical plant belches flames[/naviga:h3]

HOUSTON — Thick black smoke and towering orange flames shot up Friday from a flooded Houston-area chemical plant after two trailers of highly unstable compounds blew up a day earlier after losing refrigeration.

It was the second day that flames and smoke could be seen at the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby. Arkema says Harvey’s floodwaters engulfed its backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the organic peroxides from degrading and catching fire. Arkema executive Richard Rennard said two containers caught fire Friday evening, and that the company has six more that it expects will eventually catch fire.

The Environmental Protection Agency and local officials said an analysis of the smoke that came from the plant early Thursday showed no reason for alarm. No serious injuries were reported. EPA spokesman David Gray said the agency was sending its surveillance aircraft through the area again Friday night to monitor any airborne toxic chemicals and “will have information shortly.”

A 1½ mile buffer around the plant was established Tuesday when Arkema warned that chemicals kept there could explode. Employees had been pulled, and up to 5,000 people living nearby were warned to evacuate. Officials remain comfortable with the size of the buffer, Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal Office, said Friday evening.

Harvey’s floodwaters engulfed backup generators and cut off the refrigeration necessary to keep the organic peroxides, used in such products as plastics and paints, from degrading and catching fire.

[naviga:h3]Trump deciding where cash will go[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — The White House is still trying to decide who will get President Donald Trump’s pledged $1 million donation for Harvey storm relief efforts, one of the largest gifts ever given by a president but one that has evoked his checkered charitable past.

The president plans to make the donation, which is expected to come from his personal fortune, early next week, and it may be split among several groups doing relief work in storm-ravaged areas of Texas and Louisiana.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that the president hasn’t finalized where the money will go, raising some concern that charitable groups may end up competing for the money.