A fresh blaze broke out at a chemical plant in Texas that was flooded as a result of Hurricane Harvey on Friday, sending a giant plume of thick black smoke billowing into the sky, TV footage showed.

Officials at the Arkema plant in Crosby, northeast of Houston, had left volatile chemicals in nine truck-sized containers after the storm cut power used to cool the organic peroxides used to make plastics and other materials.

Local TV footage on Friday evening showed a fresh blaze and thick black smoke.

An employee at the plant confirmed to AFP: "It's the reaction we were expecting to happen. 

"Measures have already been taken and the area has been evacuated and there's no people around."

The first of the nine containers caught fire and burned for nine hours overnight Wednesday into Thursday.

It forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of the plant