Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Great Molasses Flood" in English language version.
Any disruption at the tank could prove disastrous to his plan to outrun Prohibition by producing alcohol as rapidly as possible at the East Cambridge distillery.
First, it was believed that the tank was overfilled because of the impending threat of Prohibition.
[I]magine an estimated 14,000 tons of the thick, sticky fluid running wild. It left the ruptured tank in a choking brown wave, 15 feet high, wiping out everything that stood in its way. One steel section of the tank was hurled across Commercial Street, neatly knocking out one of the uprights supporting the El.