By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
The 79th anniversary of the 1947 Texas City Disaster was commemorated on Saturday at the Showboat Pavilion in Texas City. The disaster is considered the worst industrial accident in U.S. history. As a result, many laws have been passed to keep such an accident from happening again.
Texas City firefighters at the time were volunteers and responded to the fires, rushing in to care for people in danger. All but one firefighter lost their lives on April 16, 1947.
Every year the city honors the tragedy, and Mayor Dedrick Johnson on Saturday promised the survivors the city will continue to honor the tragedy if there is even one survivor still living. As Johnson spoke to the survivors and other audience members, he decided to go off script and invited survivors to tell their stories.
“I lost my maternal grandfather; he was on the deck of the ship when it blew up. I was in the third grade at the time, and I just remember the teacher saying, ‘Run!’ and we all ran,” said Alvin Loeckle.
Another survivor spoke of what she had been told: “I was six months old in the bedroom and the window shattered and glass fell on top of me. My grandfather and father went to help, but they never returned,” said Daisy Swan Buster.
Armelia Nelson spoke with me and showed me the scar on her forehead where glass had landed on her while she was in her crib.
“My mother grabbed me and walked from 6th avenue all the way up to 146. My aunt who lived in Santa Fe had seen the explosion and was driving to help. She saw my mom on the road with my bloody body and took us to a doctor in Dickinson who stitched me up,” said Nelson.
Nelson reported that her father was working at the Amoco plant at the time of the explosion and didn’t have a scratch on him.
Survivors who are now entering their 80s and older come to the ceremony every year to reconnect with others who they knew when they were just children and to commemorate that horrible day. More than 50 survivors attended the 79th anniversary.
The disaster originated with a fire in the cargo hold of a ship around 8:00 am. The ship was loaded with ammonium nitrate and the fire led to an explosion at 9:12 am. The explosion was intense and shattered glass windows in every direction and as far away as Galveston.
