DANVERS - It was the equivalent of dropping a 2,000-pound bomb in the middle of a residential neighborhood, Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday. In the next breath, he called it "a Thanksgiving miracle in Danvers."
The bomb came in the form of a chemical plant explosion so powerful it shattered windows a mile away and was heard in New Hampshire. Approximately 70 homes were damaged, and as many as 200 people were displaced.
But for all the physical devastation unleashed by yesterday's 3 a.m. blast on Route 35 in Danversport, most people were left marveling at the "miracle" - the fact that everyone came out alive.
The explosion leveled the chemical plant and literally knocked neighbors out of their beds. It collapsed ceilings and walls and sent residents, including pregnant women and 2-year-old kids in their pajamas, streaming into the streets in panic.
One man was seen running down Bates Street in his boxer shorts with his dog in his arms, saying that was all he had left from his destroyed home. In another case, the force of the blast tossed a bureau in the air and sent it flying on top of a sleeping resident.
Yet for all the pitch-black chaos, only 27 people suffered injuries, most of them cuts and bruises from flying glass and debris.
Weary residents who returned to their shattered homes throughout the day to retrieve their belongings could barely comprehend the disaster that had befallen their quiet neighborhood. But they also expressed awe that the human toll wasn't worse.
"We're all alive," said Viki Brooks of 6 Rainbow Terrace, "and I've got to thank God for that."
