WEST, Texas – Let us keep this community in our prayers, Amen! Residents of the Central Texas town of West have been helping and praying for each other in the year since a massive explosion at the town’s fertilizer plant killed 15 people, leveled nearby homes and schools and left a 93-foot crater.
Holly Harris’s husband was a firefighter who died in the April 17, 2013, blast.
Harris says, “I don’t understand why this happened or how it could have been prevented.” But she adds, “I hold faith in God that he’s got control of this.”
The Rev. John Crowder, pastor of the First Baptist Church of West, says at least one-fourth of the town of 2800 people was devastated by the explosion. Donations processed through his church helped pay for the demolition of dozens of under-insured homes.
The town also has received $20 million dollars in federal assistance and $8 million from the state, and Gov. Rick Perry’s office says the state has approved an additional $4.8 million in disaster assistance.
