Well, this doesn’t sound good….
Thousands evacuated from N.C. town
APEX, N.C. – As many as 17,000 people were urged to flee homes on the outskirts of Raleigh early Friday as flames shot from a burning hazardous waste plant and a chlorine cloud rose high over the area.
Family wakes up after knock on the door at 1 a.m.
All area hotels were booked up, according to Radford, and at least 200 residents had gathered at an elementary school that was transformed into an emergency shelter.
At the shelter, the parking lot was full as several hundred residents and their pets milled around, including Cory Cataldo, his wife, Sherry, and their two young sons, according to AP.
Cataldo said the family was awakened around 1 a.m. by a knock at the door, and a man told them to evacuate because of a chemical fire. "That’s about all I needed to know," he said. "My first concern was just to get everybody out."
The downtown is covered in thick black smoke, and Radford said he is concerned about people who have ventured near the fire for a closer look. Residents as far as two miles away could see the plume or smell the chemicals, officials told AP.
"People are going to want to come in and sightsee at this fire scene," Radford told AP. "They will either get terribly sick or they will be arrested. No questions asked."
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