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Explosions were reported on Thursday morning at a chemical plant near Houston, Texas, which was hit by flooding in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey.

The Arkema plant in Crosby, Texas (roughly 25 miles northeast of Houston) produces organic peroxides used to make plastic. The compounds are known to be explosive. Amid Harvey's deluge, Arkema lost power, leaving the chemicals un-refrigerated and prone to becoming volatile as they warm. Because the chemicals remain un-refrigerated, authorities warned that further blasts were likely. Here's the latest from Texas:

• Oil refineries may have released up to 2 million pounds of chemicals in Harvey's wake
• Gas prices are spiking after the biggest US refinery shuts down
• Hurricane Harvey could be the costliest natural disaster in US history — here's how we'll know the true cost
• BUFFETT: Damage from Harvey will last "for a long time"
• Houston's airports are back in business
• Texas and Louisiana will need billions from Congress after Hurricane Harvey — here's how they could get it
• Harvey is subsiding, but for the tens of thousands driven from their homes the financial toll is just beginning

In other news, Wall Street's on edge about Washington's looming debt-ceiling debate. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, it would be "more catastrophic to the economy than the 2008 failure of Lehman Brothers."

In Wall Street news, Goldman Sachs is looking to hire senior dealmakers as part of "a shift towards growth." And Wells Fargo found 1.4 million more fake accounts than originally discovered.

In trading news, the fastest traders on Wall Street are in trouble. An ETF is launching that tracks GOP interests — and its ticker is MAGA. And we sat down with the 35-year-old in charge of attracting companies to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.

In other news, hedge funds are cashing in on bitcoin mania — there are now 50 dedicated to cryptocurrencies. And a senator is calling on the FBI to investigate billionaire investor and former Trump adviser Carl Icahn.

Apple sent out invitations for its next iPhone event. The so-called iPhone 8 is expected to be announced on September 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's new headquarters, Apple Park, in Cupertino, California. A top Apple analyst has one big question for Tim Cook ahead of next month's event — and it has nothing to do with iPhones.

Elsewhere in tech:

• Tesla is rising after slashing prices on its highest cost cars
• TOP ANALYST: There are only 2 things that really matter for Snap's stock
• RBC: Nvidia is set to dominate the next wave of blockchain technology
• Uber's new CEO tells the troops in his first all-hands meeting: "What got us here is not what’s going to get us to the next level"
• Here are annotations to decode everything in Shervin Pishevar's epic Uber diatribe

Lastly, a massive Hamptons estate that once belonged to the Ford family is on the market for a potentially record-breaking $175 million.

 

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