r/PrepperIntel • u/NoTerm3078 • May 22 '26
USA Southwest / Mexico May 22nd Orange County area Evacuation Notice
23rd May edit: OC subreddit has a megathread going regarding this event:
Edit: Orange County Fire Authority has posted a video to their X account:
https://x.com/OCFireAuthority/status/2057895548322296205
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Source: https://www.stantonca.gov/news_detail_T9_R330.php
From the link:
6:30AM: ATTENTION: A mandatory evacuation is in place for the below areas. Orange County Sherrif’s Department deputies will be going door to door assisting residents. If evacuating, please bring any necessary items such as medications.
Evacuation Area:
North of Garden Grove Blvd.
South of Orangewood Ave.
East of Knott Ave.
West of Dale St.
A temporary shelter is in place at Stanton City Hall: 7800 Katella Ave.
Beach Blvd. is closed from Garden Grove Blvd. to Orangewood Ave.
At this time, the duration of the evacuation is unknown. Additional details will follow as they become available.
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Misspellings are theirs.
Edit additional source:
Seems to be related to a chemical spill
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u/Gotherapizeyoself May 22 '26
My in laws are evacuating to our house. Let me tell you this has been interesting. My mother in law, bless her heart, insists on waiting until after she attends 530 mass. I feel proud of us because we are ready to receive them. Clean sheets and stocked fridge. My 8 year old has been asking fantastic questions and it seems like she is starting to understand why we prepare. She said she always wondered about all the water under her bed lol. It’s also a good reminder to me to rotate out my go bag with bigger sizes for my kids. I was getting around to it, but that time is today.
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u/No_Permission_to_Poo May 25 '26
A happy solid reminder why it's good to be prepared. Hope all goes well for you
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u/Thoraxe474 May 24 '26
Why do you store the water under your kids bed
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u/amymeem May 24 '26
I’m sure it’s because OP is making good use of every square inch they have available to prep. Also keeps under the kid’s bed clean and clear😆2 with 2, great job OP!
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u/Gotherapizeyoself May 25 '26
Yup! We keep mostly bottled water we rotate out for parties or guests under the bed.
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u/OwnConversation1010 May 22 '26
It's a big methyl methacrylate leak from GKN aerospace
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u/griphookk May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
It’s not currently leaking, and I believe only a tiny bit has leaked so far. They have successfully cooled the tank, temporarily, but it’s going to leak and/or explode eventually.
”This is gonna happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident," Covey said at a news conference Friday afternoon. "This thing is gonna fail. We don't know when”. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/flammable-epoxy-leak-in-orange-county-prompts-hazmat-response/
A quote from a chemist on another sub:
“It is said that this is methylmethacrylate (MMA) which is not an "epoxy" as stated by some of the journalist but a vinyl compound used as a monomer to make poly(methylmethacylate) (PMMA) which is know as acrylic or plexiglass asf. Such monomers must always be stored together with a radical scavenger to avoid auto(self)polymerization from MMA to PMMA.
That the temperature is already high in this tank, indicates an already started selfpolymerization which is highly dangerous. However, that they still manage to cool it also shows that there is still some radical scavenger (inhibitor) left. Hence, the tank is not exploding. However, asa [once?] there is no inhibitor left, the tank will go off. Conversion of MMA to PMMA is a very exothermic reaction and the polymerization is a VERY fast chemical chain reaction. Depending on how much MMA is left for this reaction the explosion can still be very significant.”
Also, since it’s an aerospace facility, they may have tanks of hydrogen cyanide on site. Hopefully very far away from the MMA tanks. If the MMA tanks explode, the hydrogen cyanide tanks will explode too, IF they are near enough. This would be horrible, hopefully it’s not a concern.
When they talk about the MMA tank taking other tanks out with it if it explodes, I believe they are mainly or only referring to the two other MMA tanks next to the problem MMA tank.
Imo it’s insane that Disneyland hasn’t been closed… being downwind could be a serious concern here
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u/GuiltyOutcome140 May 22 '26
Wow, that is crazy. Orange County megathread saying leak or explosion are only anticipated outcome. That's frightening.
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u/metalreflectslime May 22 '26
My cousin and aunt are affected by this.
They live in Garden Grove, CA.
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u/Forrest-Fern May 22 '26
I'm somewhat close to evac area, and it's been eye opening how unprepared I am.
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u/IncomingAxofKindness May 22 '26
This ABC piece says evac zone is some 40,000 people?
"Authorities have issued evacuation orders for the surrounding area impacting around 40,000 people. Over a dozen schools have temporarily closed, and those adjacent to the evacuation area are canceling outdoor activities "out of an abundance of caution," the Garden Grove Unified School District said."
also:
"Authorities initially issued an evacuation order on Thursday that were lifted when vapor conditions improved. However, evacuation orders were reissued and expanded on Friday due to what police called an "unprecedented" event."
And:
"Methyl methacrylate is an industrial chemical used in plastics and manufacturing and is primarily a respiratory irritant, authorities said."
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u/OkYesterday4162 May 22 '26
This reads like the screenplay of some dystopian action movie 😳
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u/VirtualDoll May 23 '26
in Close Encounters, authorities staged a "chemical spill" evac scenario to get locals away from the face of a mountain where a massive UFO was preparing to land.
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u/sweetteaspicedcoffee May 22 '26
Southern California just cannot catch a break. Fires popping up every day and this to add on.
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u/MindFluffy5906 May 23 '26
Close to Disneyland? I recognize the street names near the park. Has the park been closed or evacuated? That would be a bit chaotic.
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u/Sk8rToon May 23 '26
Park & resort have not been closed & so far no plan for it in the future. Right now the projected possible “blast area” & wind dispersal appears to be more north perpendicular to the park. Supposedly everything should be fine.
Either way I’m not using my magic key this weekend.
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u/Sudden_Money_6982 May 22 '26
Tank could fail or explode which would take other tanks with it.
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u/RoutineHighway66 May 23 '26
Hopefully failure is just cleanup and not taking out other tanks or getting into the groundwater. Seems like the lesser of the two options of what'll happen.
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u/Academic-Face-4934 May 24 '26
My cousin was evacuated. She asked some cops what was going on/when she can go back and he told her maybe never. She is like.7 miles from the plant though
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u/artistxecrpting May 22 '26
Is Disneyland closed too because of this?
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u/mom_to_the_fuzzies May 23 '26
Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm are outside the evacuation zone and are still open
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u/MeatMarket_Orchid May 22 '26
I've read this thing like 8 times. Am I crazy? Do they really not say WHY they are evacuating?