March 23, 2025 • 24 mins
On February 22, 1978, a Louisville and Nashville train derailed in Waverly, Tennessee, causing a catastrophic propane explosion during cleanup efforts. The incident resulted in 16 deaths, over 200 injuries, and widespread destruction. This episode delves into the details of the derailment, the ensuing explosion, and the emergency response led by Dr. Subhi Ali. It also explores the broader impacts, such as changes in rail safety regulations, the creation of FEMA, and improvements in disaster management practices.
00:00 The Waverly Train Derailment: A Tragic Day
00:40 The Decline of Railroads in the 20th Century
01:45 The Immediate Aftermath of the Derailment
03:36 The Cleanup Efforts and Rising Tensions
08:52 The Catastrophic Explosion
09:44 The Medical Response and Heroic Efforts
17:28 Investigation and Long-term Impact
20:46 Formation of FEMA and Disaster Management Reforms
24:21 Conclusion and Call to Action
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andrew (00:00):
February 22nd, 1978.
A Louisville and Nashville trainpassing through Waverly,
Tennessee derailed.
While only 24 of the train's 92cars would come off the tracks,
two of them were tanker carscontaining propane gas.
During the cleanup process, aboiling, liquid expanding vapor
(00:23):
explosion occurred that killed16 people, wounded several
others, and destroyed a largesection of town.
I'm Andrew, and this is Historyis a Disaster.
Trains, depending on where youlive, not a very common sight
(00:44):
anymore.
Unless, of course, if you livenear the tracks, or get stuck by
one on your way to work, orwherever it is you're going.
Probably not something you givea whole lot of thought to.
But in the 19th and early 20thcentury, they were the main
source of long distance traveland freight hauling.
But as the decades went by andfacing tough competitions from
(01:09):
semis, the railroad was indecline.
With the loss of so muchrevenue, many rail lines went
bankrupt.
And those that remained wereseverely strapped for cash.
By the 1970s, with the lack offunding and budget cuts, many
could not afford to properlymaintain the tracks that spread
(01:31):
across the country.
With the tracks in such aterrible state, derailments
became more common.
Hell, some tracks became so badthat the trains did not have to
be moving for the cars to falloff the tracks.
Around 10.
30pm on the 22nd of February, aLouisville and Nashville
Railroad train was travelingthrough the center of Waverly,
(01:54):
Tennessee.
A wheel slipped off its axle,causing 24 of the 92 cars to
derail.
At the time, Waverly was just asmall town consisting of roughly
5, 000 people.
The derailment could be heardthroughout the entire town.
First responders met a scene ofdevastation as they arrived.
(02:16):
Train cars were thrown aboutlike a child playing Godzilla
and kicking his toys around.
Most notably was two tankercars, still connected to each
other, laying on their sides andforming a V where they laid
across the tracks.
No one knew exactly what was inthe tanks.
Or that they carried potentiallyhazardous material.
(02:40):
The most concerning of the twohad come to rest laying across
an intersection.
The front end of the tanker hadbeen smashed in and badly
dented, and since this smalltown lacked the necessary
equipment, they had to rely ontheir noses to sniff out if
there was any kind of leak.
(03:01):
The small police force, alsolacking equipment, had to steal
barricades from a localconstruction company to set up a
1, 200 foot perimeter to keepall the locals that had started
to show up out.
By 2am, the first news vans outof Nashville were on scene.
The train wreck would make themorning news.
(03:23):
A few hours just before dawn,representatives from LNN
arrived, and without anythingfurther for the fire department
to do, most of them would end upgoing home for the night.
By 9.
30 Thursday morning, a crew fromL& N and Steel City were on hand
and working to repair thedamaged track and railcars so
(03:47):
they could keep on going downthe line.
L& N's freight lines were at astandstill until they could get
the train wreck dealt with.
In other words, they were losingmoney.
Two large boom cranes had beenmoved onto the tracks along with
several bulldozers.
Boxcars and busted wheels hadbeen bulldozed out of the way.
(04:09):
And an area had been clearedaround the tankers.
The salvage crew had severalfire hoses aimed at the tankers,
keeping them sprayed down asthey worked to fix the tracks.
Bulldozers roamed back and forthacross the site, spreading
gravel over the tracks andpulling boxcars down the fixed
track to clear up the area.
(04:31):
Wrecker trucks slowly lifteddowned boxcars back onto the
tracks so they could be movedout also.
Members of the Civil DefenseService, with sniffer dogs,
roamed the wreckage, especiallyaround the tankers, trying to
detect any leaks.
During this cleanup operation,it came out that the tankers
(04:51):
were labeled to be carryingammonia, however they were not
correctly labeled.
They were both full of liquidpetroleum gas, or propane.
Plans were being made to eithermove the tankers as they were,
or bring in an undamaged tanker.
And unload direct ones into itbefore moving them.
(05:12):
Other plans were also beingdiscussed on site between the
mayor, the Tennessee Office ofCivil Defense, Emergency Medical
Services, Public ServiceCommission, LNN, and the police
chief.
Early Friday morning, thesalvage crew was still working
to repair boxcars.
(05:33):
They let the local cops knowthat according to their test on
the tankers, there was no leakso they were not considered a
danger.
Plus, come on, it's been twodays and nothing's happened so
far.
What could possibly go wrongnow?
Since there was no signs ofdanger, the perimeter they had
(05:53):
set up would be relaxed alittle.
Businesses along the streetwould be allowed to open back
up.
The train crew did, however,want to gas and electric shut
off in the area.
The only problem with this wasthe main gas line in the area
ran to the whole county so onlythe houses in the area could be
(06:16):
cut off.
The main line had to stay on.
By 11am, the crew was hard atwork with reporters eagerly
taking pictures and recordingthe cleanup operation for the
nightly news.
They watched as the boom cranespicked up boxcars and put them
(06:36):
back on the tracks.
They watched as an open railcarnext to the tankers was picked
up and swung over the damagedone.
A set of its wheels caught onthe tank as it swung overhead.
As the crane pulled it off, thetwo ton set of wheels fell off
and hit the end of the tankerwith a loud metallic bang.
(07:01):
Everyone jumped at the noise andbreathed a sigh of relief as the
expected explosion never came.
As the moment passed, the crewgot back to work.
Some of the watchers would findan excuse to wander off.
Most likely, they needed somenew pants.
(07:21):
Others would move closer to thetankers, because that just
sounds like a smart idea.
By noon, most of the rail carswere back on track and a large
amount of the wreckage had beencleared out.
With the cars being removed fromthe tankers.
A cable sling was used to dragthem 12 feet and off the tracks,
(07:43):
because that's smart lets youdrag a damaged tank across some
tracks.
The tracks were now clear enoughthat a train was allowed to pass
through slowly, going right pastthose two tankers lying just off
to the side.
Most of that morning had beenspent in discussion on what to
(08:06):
do with those damaged tankers.
The closest rail tanks were overthree days away.
A liquid transportation companysaid they could get a semi tank
truck out there.
The problem with this, when thetruck arrived, It could not
connect to the tanker.
None of the fittings matched up.
(08:27):
It'd take until mid afternoon toget everything fixed and hooked
up.
As 3 p.
m.
got closer, they still had notstarted the transfer.
And all around, train and cranecrews, along with the volunteer
firefighters, were getting readyto leave.
It was time for a shift change.
(08:47):
It was chaos with everyonewalking around.
At 2.
55, the whole town shook.
A mushroom cloud rose above thetown, visible from miles away.
A boiling, liquid expandingvapor explosion had occurred.
Clouds of white smoke pouredover the streets, chasing after
(09:09):
white streaks of liquid propanespraying out of the ruptured
tank before vaporizing.
The explosion sent rocks anddebris spraying over the area.
The propane ignited, sendingstreaks of blue flames racing
down the streets.
The nearby lumber company wasquickly inflamed as screams
(09:32):
filled the air.
People ran for their lives,their hair, skin, and clothes,
all on fire.
The explosion and fire woulddestroy the entire section of
town.
Within minutes of the explosion,the first wave of wounded hit
Waverly's two room ER.
The smell of burning fleshoverpowered the typically
(09:55):
antiseptic smell of thehospital.
Triage in the emergency room wasoverwhelmed by the badly
wounded.
Everyone begged and called forhelp or for water.
The fire had sucked all theliquids from their bodies.
They were burnt beyond allrecognition.
The nurses did their best towork through the growing crowd.
(10:19):
They had to rely on handheldflashlights since the power had
gone out and the generator hadnot kicked in yet.
The one positive was it wasshift change so there was extra
nurses on hand to help.
However, they were all stunnedand lacked guidance.
No one really knew what to do insuch a situation.
(10:43):
They were also running low onmedication.
Dr.
Subhi Ali, a well respectedtrauma surgeon and army officer,
had arrived on scene and quicklytook charge.
He sent a nurse down to theradio station to broadcast
Operation Black.
Operation Black was the code fora potential disaster and would
(11:07):
call for all available medicalpersonnel to rush to the
hospital.
In order to call it, someonefrom the hospital had to go to
the local radio station.
And ask them to broadcast thealert on air.
Dr.
Ali also contacted Fort Campbelland requested the use of their
(11:29):
helicopters to assist intransporting the wounded to
better facilities.
The small town hospital was notequipped to deal with a
catastrophe of this size.
Ambulance radio dispatchers putout the call for any and all
ambulances to head to Waverly.
(11:50):
Dr.
Ali, led by example, calmlyworking among the patients.
The nurses were encouraged byhis calmness in such a chaotic
situation as more and morewounded came in.
With the lack of ambulances,they arrived via all manners of
transportation, from cars to thebeds of pickups and walking in.
(12:15):
The poor souls were badly burntwith white smoke still pouring
off of them.
People stepped up to help out,helping to direct traffic and
transport the wounded.
Often helping out friends theycould no longer recognize.
Dr.
Ali worked through triagingpatients as the helicopters from
(12:37):
Fort Campbell began arrivingwithin an hour of the explosion.
Every medevac chopper they hadwas sent.
They took turns landing andtaking off again once they had
patients loaded.
By 4.
30, the first of the out ofcounty ambulances began to
arrive.
(12:58):
30 counties had responded with49 ambulances showing up,
bringing much needed medicalsupplies and taking off with
severely burnt patients headingfor the burn centers in
Nashville.
By the time the ambulances hadarrived, every patient had been
through triage and Dr.
(13:18):
Ali was ready to begin operatingon patients that would stay in
town.
Surgery would involvedebridement or removal of burnt
or non viable tissue, along witha thorough cleaning of the area
to help with healing.
The town was specially fortunateto have a trauma surgeon who
(13:40):
could do this rather quickly.
Uh, the quicker they got lookedat, the better their chances of
survival were.
Prepping the patients forsurgery was a nightmare for the
nurses who had to clean thepatient head to toe in the areas
that needed to be debrided.
Everyone was covered in dirt anddebris from the explosion.
(14:03):
They managed to make it throughand assisted Dr.
Ali with surgery throughout thenight.
Everyone who came through thehospital would end up surviving.
Across town, a warehouse in backof the County Gas Company
building had been turned into amakeshift morgue.
Medical examiners from Memphishad come down to help with
(14:27):
identifying the dead.
Five people had died immediatelyin the explosion and none of
them were recognizable.
They had to use whateverarticles of clothing that were
left, like leather belts, shoes,and wallets, to aid in
identification.
Leather didn't burn in thefires, so these had remained
(14:49):
untouched.
Throughout the night, outsideresources came pouring in.
More law enforcement and firedepartments arrived to help out.
The fire departments quickly setout to push back the fires, as
well as getting hoses on theundamaged tanker laying
surrounded by flames.
(15:11):
They were greatly concerned thistanker would go up to creating
more damage and more casualties.
A command post was set up forthe multiple police agencies
that had arrived, the governorand other politicians, along
with the general of theTennessee National Guard in the
president of l and n gathered incity hall.
(15:34):
Everyone was shaken.
The phones in town were jammedand no longer worked.
The only exception was adedicated civil defense line
that connected every policedepartment and the governor's
mansion.
Patients were being transferredout of Waverly to bigger burn
(15:54):
units where they could receivebetter treatment.
Things were tense as anundamaged tanker was brought in
and began unloading the propanefrom the second tanker.
By 1030 that night, the transferwas completed safely.
A second wave of patients wouldstream into the hospital over
(16:16):
the weekend with minor woundsfrom smoke inhalation, mostly
from people wandering theexplosion site looking for loved
ones.
Dr.
Ali continued to work onpatients throughout the weekend.
In total, 16 people would losetheir lives in the disaster, 5
(16:36):
immediately during the explosionand the other 11 would pass away
in the burn units.
Over 200 more were severelyinjured and faced a long hard
road to recovering from theirinjuries.
Total property damage wasestimated at 1.
8 million dollars.
(16:58):
Which is 6.
9 million in today's money.
18 buildings were completelydestroyed.
Another 20 were severelydamaged.
15 railcars were destroyed.
And a 20 foot deep crater wasleft in the road.
Every window in the downtownarea was blown out.
(17:19):
It would end up taking fouryears to settle every lawsuit
with over 10.
7 million being awarded.
The National TransportationSafety Board wasted no time
launching a year longinvestigation.
They found that a broken highcarbon steel wheel had caused
(17:41):
the initial derailment.
The wheel broke due to a failurein the braking system, and of
course, the shitheads at LNN didnot follow regulations to check
the braking system, so theynever caught the issue.
The wheel would end up crackingjust outside of Waverly, and
(18:02):
when it hit a switch in thetrack, it completely shattered,
causing it and the 23 carsbehind it to derail.
The report also said the tankerthat had exploded had been more
seriously fucked up in thederailment than believed.
The dent in the side of it hadcaused several fractures in
(18:24):
different welds.
The tank's steel walls filled ata pressure below that of the
safety relief valve.
These fractures in the tankwould end up blowing it apart in
four sections during theexplosion.
It's also believed that movingthe tanker off the tracks could
(18:44):
have helped spread the damage.
The derailment in Waverly wasjust the latest in a series of
train and hazmat accidents.
Less than two days prior to theexplosion, another train
derailed 60 miles away fromWaverly.
An accident which involved atanker full of caustic lye.
(19:07):
Within a year of the Waverlyaccident, at the NTSB's
recommendation, the way railcarwheels were manufactured was
changed.
The Federal RailroadAdministration issued emergency
orders to remove high carbonsteel wheels from use.
The high carbon steel wheelswere prone to breaking and had
(19:30):
been the cause of a lot of thederailments like what happened
in Waverly.
Other safety standards were putinto place regarding not only
the wheels but the brakingsystems.
In October of 1980, Congresspassed the Staggers Rail Act.
The goal of the act was torebuild and rehabilitate the
(19:53):
rail system to meet the needs ofboth interstate commerce and
also national defense byreforming federal regulatory
policies.
The new legislation would beextremely beneficial to the
railroad companies.
Allowing them to be moreefficient and adjust pricing
(20:13):
based on demand.
They would soon start to becomeprofitable again.
This would end up pulling therailroads out of near
bankruptcy, which would lead tobetter maintained tracks and
further investment into safety.
Since 1980, the rail lines haveinvested over 740 billion
(20:36):
dollars of their own money intomaking things safer.
The Staggers Act, whichderegulated the rail lines, was
a win for everyone.
The Tuesday following theexplosion, the National
Governors Association issued areport calling for the formation
of a federal disaster managementagency to consolidate federal
(21:00):
emergency preparedness anddisaster relief responsibilities
into one office to makeeverything more efficient.
The report went on to highlighthow the current approach was
extremely fragmented and therewas a huge disconnect between
local and federal responses.
(21:21):
At the local level, disasterresponse was handled by civil
defense offices, which had beenaround off and on since World
War II.
On the federal level was theFederal Civil Defense
Administration.
These would be the geniusesbehind the duck and cover
movies.
You know the ones.
(21:42):
The ones that taught kids tohide under their desk in case a
nuke went off.
Cause nothing's safer thanhiding under a desk.
So to say the federal agencywasn't great is probably a bit
of an understatement.
Between the 50s, 60s, and 70s,there would be a revolving door
(22:04):
of different federal civildefense and disaster management
agencies.
They would change names often,sometimes combining into one
agency and then splitting backinto two separate ones.
The 70s saw a rise in the numberof disasters, both natural and
man made.
(22:25):
This would lead President JimmyCarter, at the beginning of his
term in 1977, to push forreforms in this area.
So when the NGA issued thereport in 1979, he was more than
happy to jump on it.
In March, he issued ExecutiveOrder 12127.
(22:45):
This put into effect areorganization and merger of
five agencies from the GeneralServices Administration,
Departments of Defense,Commerce, and Housing and Urban
Development into a singleorganization.
And on April 1st, 1979, FEMA wasborn, the Federal Emergency
(23:13):
Management Agency.
They would be givenresponsibility for civil
defense, as well as federaldisaster assistance and federal
preparedness.
They would vastly improveemergency management, disaster
planning, and personal training.
FEMA would set a standard ofprofessionalism that individual
(23:37):
states soon sought to emulateand set up their own local
versions.
Like in Tennessee, the TennesseeCivil Defense Agency became the
Tennessee Emergency ManagementAgency in 1984.
In 2003, FEMA would become partof the Department of Homeland
(23:58):
Security.
But their seriously majormishandling of Hurricane Katrina
would lead to more reform andthem becoming a separate office
once again.
This separation into its owndistinct entity once again would
strip them of any civil defenseresponsibilities and allow them
(24:18):
to focus strictly on disasterrelief.
And that was the Waverly TrainDisaster.
Thanks for listening! And if youenjoyed the show, please
consider leaving a rating andreview on your Apple choice and
reach out to the show athistoryisadisaster at gmail dot
(24:39):
com or through social media withany suggestions or comments.
Or share the show, cause sharingis caring and if there was more
caring in the world, maybehistory wouldn't be a disaster.
Thanks and goodbye.
February 22nd, 1978.
A Louisville and Nashville trainpassing through Waverly,
Tennessee derailed.
While only 24 of the train's 92cars would come off the tracks,
two of them were tanker carscontaining propane gas.
During the cleanup process, aboiling, liquid expanding vapor
(00:23):
explosion occurred that killed16 people, wounded several
others, and destroyed a largesection of town.
I'm Andrew, and this is Historyis a Disaster.
Trains, depending on where youlive, not a very common sight
(00:44):
anymore.
Unless, of course, if you livenear the tracks, or get stuck by
one on your way to work, orwherever it is you're going.
Probably not something you givea whole lot of thought to.
But in the 19th and early 20thcentury, they were the main
source of long distance traveland freight hauling.
But as the decades went by andfacing tough competitions from
(01:09):
semis, the railroad was indecline.
With the loss of so muchrevenue, many rail lines went
bankrupt.
And those that remained wereseverely strapped for cash.
By the 1970s, with the lack offunding and budget cuts, many
could not afford to properlymaintain the tracks that spread
(01:31):
across the country.
With the tracks in such aterrible state, derailments
became more common.
Hell, some tracks became so badthat the trains did not have to
be moving for the cars to falloff the tracks.
Around 10.
30pm on the 22nd of February, aLouisville and Nashville
Railroad train was travelingthrough the center of Waverly,
(01:54):
Tennessee.
A wheel slipped off its axle,causing 24 of the 92 cars to
derail.
At the time, Waverly was just asmall town consisting of roughly
5, 000 people.
The derailment could be heardthroughout the entire town.
First responders met a scene ofdevastation as they arrived.
(02:16):
Train cars were thrown aboutlike a child playing Godzilla
and kicking his toys around.
Most notably was two tankercars, still connected to each
other, laying on their sides andforming a V where they laid
across the tracks.
No one knew exactly what was inthe tanks.
Or that they carried potentiallyhazardous material.
(02:40):
The most concerning of the twohad come to rest laying across
an intersection.
The front end of the tanker hadbeen smashed in and badly
dented, and since this smalltown lacked the necessary
equipment, they had to rely ontheir noses to sniff out if
there was any kind of leak.
(03:01):
The small police force, alsolacking equipment, had to steal
barricades from a localconstruction company to set up a
1, 200 foot perimeter to keepall the locals that had started
to show up out.
By 2am, the first news vans outof Nashville were on scene.
The train wreck would make themorning news.
(03:23):
A few hours just before dawn,representatives from LNN
arrived, and without anythingfurther for the fire department
to do, most of them would end upgoing home for the night.
By 9.
30 Thursday morning, a crew fromL& N and Steel City were on hand
and working to repair thedamaged track and railcars so
(03:47):
they could keep on going downthe line.
L& N's freight lines were at astandstill until they could get
the train wreck dealt with.
In other words, they were losingmoney.
Two large boom cranes had beenmoved onto the tracks along with
several bulldozers.
Boxcars and busted wheels hadbeen bulldozed out of the way.
(04:09):
And an area had been clearedaround the tankers.
The salvage crew had severalfire hoses aimed at the tankers,
keeping them sprayed down asthey worked to fix the tracks.
Bulldozers roamed back and forthacross the site, spreading
gravel over the tracks andpulling boxcars down the fixed
track to clear up the area.
(04:31):
Wrecker trucks slowly lifteddowned boxcars back onto the
tracks so they could be movedout also.
Members of the Civil DefenseService, with sniffer dogs,
roamed the wreckage, especiallyaround the tankers, trying to
detect any leaks.
During this cleanup operation,it came out that the tankers
(04:51):
were labeled to be carryingammonia, however they were not
correctly labeled.
They were both full of liquidpetroleum gas, or propane.
Plans were being made to eithermove the tankers as they were,
or bring in an undamaged tanker.
And unload direct ones into itbefore moving them.
(05:12):
Other plans were also beingdiscussed on site between the
mayor, the Tennessee Office ofCivil Defense, Emergency Medical
Services, Public ServiceCommission, LNN, and the police
chief.
Early Friday morning, thesalvage crew was still working
to repair boxcars.
(05:33):
They let the local cops knowthat according to their test on
the tankers, there was no leakso they were not considered a
danger.
Plus, come on, it's been twodays and nothing's happened so
far.
What could possibly go wrongnow?
Since there was no signs ofdanger, the perimeter they had
(05:53):
set up would be relaxed alittle.
Businesses along the streetwould be allowed to open back
up.
The train crew did, however,want to gas and electric shut
off in the area.
The only problem with this wasthe main gas line in the area
ran to the whole county so onlythe houses in the area could be
(06:16):
cut off.
The main line had to stay on.
By 11am, the crew was hard atwork with reporters eagerly
taking pictures and recordingthe cleanup operation for the
nightly news.
They watched as the boom cranespicked up boxcars and put them
(06:36):
back on the tracks.
They watched as an open railcarnext to the tankers was picked
up and swung over the damagedone.
A set of its wheels caught onthe tank as it swung overhead.
As the crane pulled it off, thetwo ton set of wheels fell off
and hit the end of the tankerwith a loud metallic bang.
(07:01):
Everyone jumped at the noise andbreathed a sigh of relief as the
expected explosion never came.
As the moment passed, the crewgot back to work.
Some of the watchers would findan excuse to wander off.
Most likely, they needed somenew pants.
(07:21):
Others would move closer to thetankers, because that just
sounds like a smart idea.
By noon, most of the rail carswere back on track and a large
amount of the wreckage had beencleared out.
With the cars being removed fromthe tankers.
A cable sling was used to dragthem 12 feet and off the tracks,
(07:43):
because that's smart lets youdrag a damaged tank across some
tracks.
The tracks were now clear enoughthat a train was allowed to pass
through slowly, going right pastthose two tankers lying just off
to the side.
Most of that morning had beenspent in discussion on what to
(08:06):
do with those damaged tankers.
The closest rail tanks were overthree days away.
A liquid transportation companysaid they could get a semi tank
truck out there.
The problem with this, when thetruck arrived, It could not
connect to the tanker.
None of the fittings matched up.
(08:27):
It'd take until mid afternoon toget everything fixed and hooked
up.
As 3 p.
m.
got closer, they still had notstarted the transfer.
And all around, train and cranecrews, along with the volunteer
firefighters, were getting readyto leave.
It was time for a shift change.
(08:47):
It was chaos with everyonewalking around.
At 2.
55, the whole town shook.
A mushroom cloud rose above thetown, visible from miles away.
A boiling, liquid expandingvapor explosion had occurred.
Clouds of white smoke pouredover the streets, chasing after
(09:09):
white streaks of liquid propanespraying out of the ruptured
tank before vaporizing.
The explosion sent rocks anddebris spraying over the area.
The propane ignited, sendingstreaks of blue flames racing
down the streets.
The nearby lumber company wasquickly inflamed as screams
(09:32):
filled the air.
People ran for their lives,their hair, skin, and clothes,
all on fire.
The explosion and fire woulddestroy the entire section of
town.
Within minutes of the explosion,the first wave of wounded hit
Waverly's two room ER.
The smell of burning fleshoverpowered the typically
(09:55):
antiseptic smell of thehospital.
Triage in the emergency room wasoverwhelmed by the badly
wounded.
Everyone begged and called forhelp or for water.
The fire had sucked all theliquids from their bodies.
They were burnt beyond allrecognition.
The nurses did their best towork through the growing crowd.
(10:19):
They had to rely on handheldflashlights since the power had
gone out and the generator hadnot kicked in yet.
The one positive was it wasshift change so there was extra
nurses on hand to help.
However, they were all stunnedand lacked guidance.
No one really knew what to do insuch a situation.
(10:43):
They were also running low onmedication.
Dr.
Subhi Ali, a well respectedtrauma surgeon and army officer,
had arrived on scene and quicklytook charge.
He sent a nurse down to theradio station to broadcast
Operation Black.
Operation Black was the code fora potential disaster and would
(11:07):
call for all available medicalpersonnel to rush to the
hospital.
In order to call it, someonefrom the hospital had to go to
the local radio station.
And ask them to broadcast thealert on air.
Dr.
Ali also contacted Fort Campbelland requested the use of their
(11:29):
helicopters to assist intransporting the wounded to
better facilities.
The small town hospital was notequipped to deal with a
catastrophe of this size.
Ambulance radio dispatchers putout the call for any and all
ambulances to head to Waverly.
(11:50):
Dr.
Ali, led by example, calmlyworking among the patients.
The nurses were encouraged byhis calmness in such a chaotic
situation as more and morewounded came in.
With the lack of ambulances,they arrived via all manners of
transportation, from cars to thebeds of pickups and walking in.
(12:15):
The poor souls were badly burntwith white smoke still pouring
off of them.
People stepped up to help out,helping to direct traffic and
transport the wounded.
Often helping out friends theycould no longer recognize.
Dr.
Ali worked through triagingpatients as the helicopters from
(12:37):
Fort Campbell began arrivingwithin an hour of the explosion.
Every medevac chopper they hadwas sent.
They took turns landing andtaking off again once they had
patients loaded.
By 4.
30, the first of the out ofcounty ambulances began to
arrive.
(12:58):
30 counties had responded with49 ambulances showing up,
bringing much needed medicalsupplies and taking off with
severely burnt patients headingfor the burn centers in
Nashville.
By the time the ambulances hadarrived, every patient had been
through triage and Dr.
(13:18):
Ali was ready to begin operatingon patients that would stay in
town.
Surgery would involvedebridement or removal of burnt
or non viable tissue, along witha thorough cleaning of the area
to help with healing.
The town was specially fortunateto have a trauma surgeon who
(13:40):
could do this rather quickly.
Uh, the quicker they got lookedat, the better their chances of
survival were.
Prepping the patients forsurgery was a nightmare for the
nurses who had to clean thepatient head to toe in the areas
that needed to be debrided.
Everyone was covered in dirt anddebris from the explosion.
(14:03):
They managed to make it throughand assisted Dr.
Ali with surgery throughout thenight.
Everyone who came through thehospital would end up surviving.
Across town, a warehouse in backof the County Gas Company
building had been turned into amakeshift morgue.
Medical examiners from Memphishad come down to help with
(14:27):
identifying the dead.
Five people had died immediatelyin the explosion and none of
them were recognizable.
They had to use whateverarticles of clothing that were
left, like leather belts, shoes,and wallets, to aid in
identification.
Leather didn't burn in thefires, so these had remained
(14:49):
untouched.
Throughout the night, outsideresources came pouring in.
More law enforcement and firedepartments arrived to help out.
The fire departments quickly setout to push back the fires, as
well as getting hoses on theundamaged tanker laying
surrounded by flames.
(15:11):
They were greatly concerned thistanker would go up to creating
more damage and more casualties.
A command post was set up forthe multiple police agencies
that had arrived, the governorand other politicians, along
with the general of theTennessee National Guard in the
president of l and n gathered incity hall.
(15:34):
Everyone was shaken.
The phones in town were jammedand no longer worked.
The only exception was adedicated civil defense line
that connected every policedepartment and the governor's
mansion.
Patients were being transferredout of Waverly to bigger burn
(15:54):
units where they could receivebetter treatment.
Things were tense as anundamaged tanker was brought in
and began unloading the propanefrom the second tanker.
By 1030 that night, the transferwas completed safely.
A second wave of patients wouldstream into the hospital over
(16:16):
the weekend with minor woundsfrom smoke inhalation, mostly
from people wandering theexplosion site looking for loved
ones.
Dr.
Ali continued to work onpatients throughout the weekend.
In total, 16 people would losetheir lives in the disaster, 5
(16:36):
immediately during the explosionand the other 11 would pass away
in the burn units.
Over 200 more were severelyinjured and faced a long hard
road to recovering from theirinjuries.
Total property damage wasestimated at 1.
8 million dollars.
(16:58):
Which is 6.
9 million in today's money.
18 buildings were completelydestroyed.
Another 20 were severelydamaged.
15 railcars were destroyed.
And a 20 foot deep crater wasleft in the road.
Every window in the downtownarea was blown out.
(17:19):
It would end up taking fouryears to settle every lawsuit
with over 10.
7 million being awarded.
The National TransportationSafety Board wasted no time
launching a year longinvestigation.
They found that a broken highcarbon steel wheel had caused
(17:41):
the initial derailment.
The wheel broke due to a failurein the braking system, and of
course, the shitheads at LNN didnot follow regulations to check
the braking system, so theynever caught the issue.
The wheel would end up crackingjust outside of Waverly, and
(18:02):
when it hit a switch in thetrack, it completely shattered,
causing it and the 23 carsbehind it to derail.
The report also said the tankerthat had exploded had been more
seriously fucked up in thederailment than believed.
The dent in the side of it hadcaused several fractures in
(18:24):
different welds.
The tank's steel walls filled ata pressure below that of the
safety relief valve.
These fractures in the tankwould end up blowing it apart in
four sections during theexplosion.
It's also believed that movingthe tanker off the tracks could
(18:44):
have helped spread the damage.
The derailment in Waverly wasjust the latest in a series of
train and hazmat accidents.
Less than two days prior to theexplosion, another train
derailed 60 miles away fromWaverly.
An accident which involved atanker full of caustic lye.
(19:07):
Within a year of the Waverlyaccident, at the NTSB's
recommendation, the way railcarwheels were manufactured was
changed.
The Federal RailroadAdministration issued emergency
orders to remove high carbonsteel wheels from use.
The high carbon steel wheelswere prone to breaking and had
(19:30):
been the cause of a lot of thederailments like what happened
in Waverly.
Other safety standards were putinto place regarding not only
the wheels but the brakingsystems.
In October of 1980, Congresspassed the Staggers Rail Act.
The goal of the act was torebuild and rehabilitate the
(19:53):
rail system to meet the needs ofboth interstate commerce and
also national defense byreforming federal regulatory
policies.
The new legislation would beextremely beneficial to the
railroad companies.
Allowing them to be moreefficient and adjust pricing
(20:13):
based on demand.
They would soon start to becomeprofitable again.
This would end up pulling therailroads out of near
bankruptcy, which would lead tobetter maintained tracks and
further investment into safety.
Since 1980, the rail lines haveinvested over 740 billion
(20:36):
dollars of their own money intomaking things safer.
The Staggers Act, whichderegulated the rail lines, was
a win for everyone.
The Tuesday following theexplosion, the National
Governors Association issued areport calling for the formation
of a federal disaster managementagency to consolidate federal
(21:00):
emergency preparedness anddisaster relief responsibilities
into one office to makeeverything more efficient.
The report went on to highlighthow the current approach was
extremely fragmented and therewas a huge disconnect between
local and federal responses.
(21:21):
At the local level, disasterresponse was handled by civil
defense offices, which had beenaround off and on since World
War II.
On the federal level was theFederal Civil Defense
Administration.
These would be the geniusesbehind the duck and cover
movies.
You know the ones.
(21:42):
The ones that taught kids tohide under their desk in case a
nuke went off.
Cause nothing's safer thanhiding under a desk.
So to say the federal agencywasn't great is probably a bit
of an understatement.
Between the 50s, 60s, and 70s,there would be a revolving door
(22:04):
of different federal civildefense and disaster management
agencies.
They would change names often,sometimes combining into one
agency and then splitting backinto two separate ones.
The 70s saw a rise in the numberof disasters, both natural and
man made.
(22:25):
This would lead President JimmyCarter, at the beginning of his
term in 1977, to push forreforms in this area.
So when the NGA issued thereport in 1979, he was more than
happy to jump on it.
In March, he issued ExecutiveOrder 12127.
(22:45):
This put into effect areorganization and merger of
five agencies from the GeneralServices Administration,
Departments of Defense,Commerce, and Housing and Urban
Development into a singleorganization.
And on April 1st, 1979, FEMA wasborn, the Federal Emergency
(23:13):
Management Agency.
They would be givenresponsibility for civil
defense, as well as federaldisaster assistance and federal
preparedness.
They would vastly improveemergency management, disaster
planning, and personal training.
FEMA would set a standard ofprofessionalism that individual
(23:37):
states soon sought to emulateand set up their own local
versions.
Like in Tennessee, the TennesseeCivil Defense Agency became the
Tennessee Emergency ManagementAgency in 1984.
In 2003, FEMA would become partof the Department of Homeland
(23:58):
Security.
But their seriously majormishandling of Hurricane Katrina
would lead to more reform andthem becoming a separate office
once again.
This separation into its owndistinct entity once again would
strip them of any civil defenseresponsibilities and allow them
(24:18):
to focus strictly on disasterrelief.
And that was the Waverly TrainDisaster.
Thanks for listening! And if youenjoyed the show, please
consider leaving a rating andreview on your Apple choice and
reach out to the show athistoryisadisaster at gmail dot
(24:39):
com or through social media withany suggestions or comments.
Or share the show, cause sharingis caring and if there was more
caring in the world, maybehistory wouldn't be a disaster.
Thanks and goodbye.
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