Beirut

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Well-known member
I haven't looked at Twitter during an event like this in a while. I'd almost forgotten how false it was. Not only have you got the usual "thoughts and prayers" tripe, it's also trending as "Beruit"...
 
I wasn't sure why the mushroom cloud was so very red, but digging into it a bit it must be thousands of tonnes of dinitrogen tetroxide, so the secondary explosion is definitely several thousand tonnes ammonium nitrate going off at once. It's quite hard to set it off, but when it goes it really goes. The fireworks or ammunition or whatever was in effect the high explosive detonator for the low explosive, but very high yield secondary. Somebody fucked up storing that lot in close proximity.
 
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Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I wasn't sure why the mushroom cloud was so very red, but digging into it a bit it must be thousands of tonnes of dinitrogen tetroxide, so the secondary explosion is definitely several thousand tonnes ammonium nitrate going off at once. It's quite hard to set it off, but when it goes it really goes. The fireworks or ammunition or whatever was in effect the high explosive detonator for the low explosive, but very high yield secondary. Somebody fucked up storing that lot in close proximity.
Sounds like they should have put you in charge.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Trump has, of course, speculated that it was an attack.

Some interesting work on estimating the yield of the blast - general consensus is that it was at least 0.25, and probably not more than 1, kT TNTe, which is about the size of the smallest tactical nukes:


If you want to donate, Impact Lebanon is a legit NGO aiming to raise £5M for the relief effort, although there are fees involved with Just Giving: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lebanon-relief?utm_term=PYp7gXzyD

Or British Red Cross: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/beirut-emergency-appeal

Or Lebanese Red Cross: https://www.supportlrc.app/donate/

Or Islamic Relief: https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/lebanon-emergency/

And MSF, of course, although they don't appear to have a fund specifically for Beirut. https://www.msf.org.uk/
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Friend of mine who lived in Beirut for a few years says he thinks Lebanese Red Cross is probably the best bet for spending donations in a trustworthy and efficient way.
 
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