Dixie Crystals

Richard and I were eating dinner tonight and our house was rocked by a huge explosion. It was pretty terrifying. We ran outside to see if we could figure out what was going on and we saw a huge mushroom cloud/fire ball rising above the trees in our yard. The Dixie Crystal Sugar Refinery, which is about 200 yard from our house, was up in flames. Within minutes all the residents of Port Wentworth stood around in disbelief as a flood of rescue workers invaded our little town. We saw more police cars than we could count, so many abulances, about 30 fire trucks and many other rescue vehicles. Chatham County, GSP, Liberty County, Tybee Island, Tatnall County, Camden County, and Effingham County (shout out) were all here to help. What an outpouring we've seen. It's 11:52 pm now and the church across the street is now a Red Cross relief center.

We've talked to several folks that were in the plant when it exploded. It was so surreal hearing them talk about their experience and hearing them discuss whether their supervisor even survived. This is the stuff you read about in the news and see in movies.

I have been interviewed by 2 television stations. They rang our doorbell about 10:30. What a crazy night. I'm ready to get some rest and I'm praying that I don't dream about tonights events.