Yazoo City chemical plant explosion leads to evacuations

The explosion at the CF Industries plant led to an ammonia leak late Wednesday afternoon, forcing folks nearby to leave their homes or shelter in place. 

Robert Edmonds, who works at Kaye's Food Market, said he was driving when the explosion jolted his car.

"I was coming down the highway with my aunt getting ready to come to work and that's when I felt a sudden jump," he said. "I couldn't explain what it was, but then I saw a mushroom-type plume coming over the horizon."

Yazoo schools Superintendent Terri Rhea saw helicopters and emergency vehicles from her car that evening -- and shortly after, got calls from emergency management asking for the schools' help. 

"It really looked like something out of a movie scene," she said. "I was in my car when I started seeing all the blue lights and the helicopters."

Red Cross worked with the school district to provide support for folks affected, with a center set up at Yazoo County High School for evacuees to stay in overnight. 

So far, there have been no reported injuries or fatalities. A release from the plant said they had resumed usual operations. 

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said that they lifted the shelter orders around 12:30 on Thursday morning and that traffic controls were lifted around 8:00 a.m.

Yazoo County Emergency Management Director Jack Willingham said they were still working to figure out the cause and that state and federal agencies would likely be involved in an investigation. 

"We were prepared for the worst because of what we saw there, we were expecting it to be a lot worse than it was," Willingham told MPB. "Fortunately, it was not, by the grace of God."

As of Thursday morning, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said the levels of ammonia in the air were safe. Willingham said they'd ended monitoring by Thursday afternoon.