[Peter Horry]

According to the news, someone was trying to stop traffic and two cars drove past them... think one of them was driven by the woman that died.

[wastedyears]

Maybe the one that was trying to stop traffic knew what the cloud was, and the dangers it posed.

[FreeSouthernAmerican]

I work for a company that owns an ammonia pipeline up north. I don’t work on that line myself, but I’ve heard that is some straight up nasty, horrible stuff. Hard to control it once its loose.

[-YYZ-]

“a vast poisonous mist of a deadly chemical called anhydrous ammonia, typically used in cleaning products”

Uh, no. Anhydrous ammonia is not used in cleaning products - it is a gas at standard temperatures and pressures. In this form it can be used directly as a refrigeration gas, like Freon. I believe it can also be used as a fertilizer. Otherwise it is used as a feedstock for chemical processes, or hydrated to produce aqueous ammonia which can be used in cleaning products. Anyhydrous ammonia, much like hydrogen chloride or hydrogen sulfate, is particularly nasty because it turns to ammonia on contact with water, which the mucous membrames and lungs are full of (the latter two turn to hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, respectively). Result - instant chemical burns inside your lungs, which is not good.

[Just another Joe]

Anhydrous Ammonia is nasty.
I used to work with it while repairing microfiche copiers.

We had the valve come off one tank once.
It cleared the whole shop.
I had to put on an air mask to get in to replace the valve. Couldn[t hold my breath long enough.

My skin afterwards burned like he!!.
I had to decontaminate in the shower, including my clothing, to get back to nornal.

[KosmicKitty]

When the Miannus River bridge on I95 collapsed here many years ago, motorists tried to stop a car about to drive off the bridge. It was night time & the driver couldn’t see that the bridge was gone.

The car, with 2 young men in it, flipped the persons trying to warn them the finger & drove off the bridge to their deaths.

[SC Swamp Fox]

South Carolina
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[Slings and Arrows]

Don’t know if it’s relevant here, but anhydrous ammonia is an ingredient of methamphetamine.

[visualops]

This reminds me of years ago when I lived in Solvay, NY (Syracuse), about a block from the chlorine (chloride? something or other) plant. They had a siren if there was a leak. Once it went off and they told everyone stay inside and shut all the windows. You couldn’t really smell it in the air and it was invisible but even the slightest amount did burn. It was kinda scary. Luckily no-one was seriously hurt.