MUST SEE: Photos and Video of Texas Chemical Plant Explosion are Terrifying and Extraordinary

There are few industrial events more fear-inducing than uncontrolled fires and explosions in the hazardous chemical industry, and one town in Texas is being reminded of that reality this week.

In Port Neches, Texas, the unthinkable has occurred.

Some 60,000 Texans have been driven from their homes on Thanksgiving by a series of explosions at a petrochemical plant Wednesday that has created a massive ongoing fire.

Three workers were injured when a processing unit at the Texas Petroleum Chemical Group (TPC Group) plant in Port Neches in southeast Texas exploded at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, igniting a fire that has triggered a series of secondary explosions.

A huge subsequent blast at about 2 p.m. Wednesday launched a distillation tower into the air, prompting authorities to order Jefferson County residents within a four-mile radius of the plant — in Port Neches and Groves, and parts of nearby Nederland and Port Arthur — to evacuate.

This second explosion was even caught on camera, with the aforementioned tower launch belying the serious and terrifying nature of the incident.

Here’s the moment another explosion happened at the TPC plant in Port Neches. @12NewsNow pic.twitter.com/VlVtmS79JH

— Makensie Hinkle (@MakensieTVNews) November 27, 2019

Other bits of footage from the incident have gone viral as well.

 

Doorbell cameras in Port Neches, Texas captured the moment of a chemical refinery explosion that rocked the city, injuring at least three people, and even breaking a light fixture a distance away. https://t.co/WD0p6f2Vt0 pic.twitter.com/r2t5hgu58n

— ABC News (@ABC) November 27, 2019

TPC EXPLOSION: Video of a door being blown off at person home in Port Neches during plant explosion.

Thank you to Michael Buell for the video. pic.twitter.com/prKZUzBk4F

— KFDM News (@kfdmnews) November 27, 2019

WATCH: Fire blazes from an industrial plant explosion in Port Neches, Texas pic.twitter.com/C99Squ4Y7h

— Bloomberg TicToc (@TicToc) November 27, 2019

Surveillance footage captures explosion at a petrochemical refinery in Port Neches, Texas; a mandatory evacuation and curfew were ordered following the blast. https://t.co/tSGLAuWftN pic.twitter.com/k4YJ9xbH4o

— ABC News (@ABC) November 28, 2019

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Port Neches.