Port Isabel reports 'raining particulates' after SpaceX rocket explodes over the Rio Grande...

The Starship/Super Heavy SpaceX rocket made liftoff on Thursday morning in its full prototype configuration for the first time since receiving FAA approval on Friday.

Four minutes later, Starship failed to detach from its booster, and it exploded in mid-air over Boca Chica beach in the Rio Grande Valley, bringing its planned 90-minute trip to a location in the Pacific Ocean just north of Hawaii to a sudden end.

Within minutes, residents of nearby Port Isabel reported on social media that they saw “particulates” or “ash” settling onto homes, cars, and streets.

Rob Nixon, vice chairman of Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter, lives in San Benito but works in South Padre Island. He watched Thursday’s rocket launch from Port Isabel. He said the rocket’s impact could be seen, heard, felt and touched for miles around.

“I wasn't expecting to collect raining particulates today,” he said. “And my wife's classroom in Los Fresnos vibrated 20 miles away.”