The explosions in Tianjin have made international news, with television and the Internet being filled with images of the blasts. However, even with over a hundred dead and almost as many still missing, it is the fallout from these blasts that will fill the news over the coming months, in terms of both the affects on those living there, and the disruptions to one of the largest ports in the world.
Challenges have already emerged in the disaster response, with concerns over potential water and air contamination, due to the hazardous products contains within the warehouse at the center of the explosions. To combat this, China has mobilized specialists in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare, alongside specialist firefighters, with the intent of containing any chemical fallout, and removing remaining toxic chemicals, according to an article in The Hindu.
Throughout the rest of the nation, safety checks are being ordered on hydrogen generation stations, ammonia producing plants, fuel tanks, warehouses storing volatile chemicals and explosives as well as coal pulverising systems, in response to a statement from the State Council Work Safety Commission that acknowledged the various conditions that made such an explosion possible, including poor safety awareness among businesses, lax implementation of safety regulations, irregular practices among workers and weak emergency responses to incidents.
For more details on the disaster containment effort, please click the link below:
With the scale of the disaster, international insurers have also been paying close attention. As a major port, Tianjin represented a major concentration of manufactured goods. For more details on the insurance risks associated with disaster in such areas, please click the link below.
http://www.munichre.com/en/reinsurance/magazine/topics-online/2015/08/explosion-tianjin/index.html
