Exactly a week ago I learned a roller coaster in Texas fromwhich a woman fell to her death would not be permitted to takeanother passenger until the Texas Department of Insurance slapped anew sticker on it.

TDI is the state administrator of the Amusement Ride SafetyInspection and Insurance Act. Every amusement park ride owner oroperator must possess at least $1 million in bodily injuryinsurance (per occurrence) and the ride has to be inspected by aqualified engineer—every year. The sticker, similar to aninspection stick on a car, is meant to be seen by riders in orderto assure them the ride is safe.

Rhetorically I ask: So you mean to tell me TDI has moreoversight of roller coasters than it does a facility—withinspitting distance of schools and homes—that stores hundreds oftons of ammonium nitrate?

Roller coasters are required to have insurance or no one ispermitted to ride. Want to know what else is in that Amusement RideSafety Act? Go-karts, rock-climbing walls, bungee jumps, zip lines,mechanical bulls and inflatables. Yes. Operators of bouncy housesare required to possess insurance in case there is anaccident.

Following the explosion of West Fertilizer Co. in West, Texas(which destroyed 140-something homes, an apartment complex, acouple schools and a nursing home) it was a lot more difficult tofind a state agency who knew anything about topics such asinspections or insurance for a fertilizer facility storing volatilechemical compounds extremely close to where residents lay theirheads for the night or to where children enjoy recess.

TDI said after the April blast: four state agencies—State HealthServices, Texas State Chemist, Texas Commission on EnvironmentalQuality, and Texas ­Agriculture Department—with some oversight ofthese types of facilities do not require General Liability.“Companies that carry insurance are not required to report thatinformation to us,” TDI said in a statement.

As we all now know, West Fertilizer had $1 million in insurancecoverage. No excess or umbrella cover. And partly due to this fact,the city of West is having a difficult time recovering because somefolks affected cannot be made whole. The city has sued thefertilizer manufacturer because there is nowhere else to turn. Someresidents have followed the lead, similarly filing lawsuits against the manufacturer. Iwent to West and spoke to its mayor, Tommy Muska, and I canguarantee he didn't want to sue anyone. But there were no otheroptions.

Read my story based on my visit to West HERE.

Luckily the town got some good news. According to reports, thecity's schools will receive $2.75 million for temporary classroomsand administrative buildings from the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency. The agency rejected a request for $40 million in aid forthe city, struggling to find funds to repair the schools andinfrastructure.

Another report from the Dallas Morning News says the state Department of HealthServices can't even say how many people were hurt in the explosionbecause it hasn't started to collect information about deaths(there were officially 15 directly as a result of the blast) andinjuries. Sources cited by the newspaper say this type ofinformation could shed light on the danger hovering over otherTexans living close to facilities like West Fertilizer—and it couldbe beneficial to understand how a blast like this effects people.Since the disaster, about a dozen senior citizens moved from West'snursing home have died.

In other words: Wouldn't it be wise to learn from thisunfortunate accident—establish some risk management strategies,maybe—rather than let the opportunity slip by? And wouldn't it besensible to look into whether these facilities need to carry acertain amount of insurance?

You know…like the state has done with bouncy houses.