OK, dumb question. If the chemicals were stored in vans, why didn’t they drive it out when the plant started flooding?
Exactly what I was wondering. I pictured a stopped processing line running coolant from backup power. Refrigeration trailers seem like a no brainer to move to higher ground.
Normally the product would be stored in a refrigerated building supplied with electrical power. When the power went out, they had a couple of diesel generators as backup. When the generators went underwater, they moved the product to refrigerated trucks. At that point, I suspect that they had to decide whether it was safer to put the trucks on the road in the storm or leave them on site and hope they wouldn’t fail.