Bridge collapse in Minneapolis

[sulawesigirl4]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/ap_on_re_us/minnesota_bridge_collapse

MINNEAPOLIS - The entire span of an interstate bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.

The Interstate 35W bridge, which spans between Minneapolis and St. Paul, was under construction when it broke into several huge sections.

It was not clear how many people were injured. A burning truck and a school bus clung to one slanted slab, while at least eight cars and a truck were submerged in the river.

The bus had just crossed the bridge before it crumpled into pieces, and broadcast reports indicated the children on the bus exited out the back door.

Dozens of vehicles were scattered and stacked on top of each other amid the rubble. Some people were stranded on parts of the bridge that aren't completely in the water.

Local television stations captured video of injured people being carried up the riverbank. There was no official word on injuries, but dozens of rescue vehicles were there. Divers were also in the water.

I used to drive over this thing all the time. My brother lives very close to it, and I haven't been able to get ahold of him yet.

 

[DrTeeth]

That's horrible, but I'm sure everything's alright with your brother

 

[indra]

Oh my, that's awful. I hope your brother is ok Sula.

 

[rushu2]

North and South all along the River

I am super sad about the bridge collapse. I live over by here and my husband was going to go to the ball game tonight and decided not to at the last minute. He would have taken the 35 bridge crossing over the mississippi at about the time it collapsed. Now, during the rescue effort we are about to get severe thunderstorms. I can hear it rumbling. Is there any thing to the fact that hurrican Katrina hit on the very southern tip of the M. river and now the north?

 

[redhotswami]

oh my god, i just saw a "breaking news" thingy when i walked past my dad watching the tv.

this is terrible. i hope that they can save everyone. i dunno if you're still online, sula, so i'm gonna text you.

 

[Butterscotch]

This is devastating And this morning a greyhound bus turned over in NC. It's not safe to travel anymore. You never know when you're going to be riding along, and plop. This happened in Arkansas a few years ago too. Our 50 year old infrastructure is crumbling and we haven't got enough money to fix it thanks to Iraq

I hope everyone everybody knows is okay and people on this forum who live there I know there are a few.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

my heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to everyone there. Sula I hope you hear from your brother...


this is just awful...

 

[Butterscotch]

That's terrible Can you give us some updates? I'm not getting much from CNN.

I can imagine the whole city must be paralyzed.

 

[rushu2]

they are saying that there are at least 50 cars underwater. Its starting to get dark. I just can't believe something like this would happen up here. Its a major interstate-it just collapsed!! We have too much waterway and not enough bridges up here!

 

[phillyfan26]

http://forum.interference.com/t178674.html

There's discussion on the incident already here.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I just saw this...the bridge is literally 5 blocks or less from the dorm I'm going to be living at in a month. Sula, I hope your brother is okay

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, this is just horrifying.

I have random thoughts about things like this when I drive on the bridges around Seattle, particularly the Alaskan Way viaduct, which is just a honkin' structure of concrete doomed to collapse if and when the Big One hits.

 

[rushu2]

Thanks!

 

[Diane L]

Sula, I hope your brother is alright.

Has anyone heard from arw/Pop Bono (Amanda)?

 

[rushu2]

I really cannot emphasize how horrible this is. The footage reminds me of a low grade Katrina. I mean, this is a city that seems to take care of their infrastructure. And on the Miss. R. what is going on? It really bothers me!!!

 

[zonelistener]

Sula, I hope your brother is alright.

Has anyone heard from arw/Pop Bono (Amanda)?

I am not sure if her daily path would take her near this bridge (knowing where she live and where her school is, etc.).

Six deaths so far.

I have driven this bridge hundreds of times when I lived in the area. I used to park under this bridge when I went to Vikings games. It just blows my mind.

Hoping all friends and family are ok!

 

[Lila64]

Thoughts and prayers ray:

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Just got a call from my brother. He's fine, thankfully. He'd been on the bridge just a few hours before the incident. Thank you all for your kind thoughts.

Like zoney, this really just blows my mind. When I lived in the Cities, I used to cross this bridge all the time; it's a MAJOR artery. I can't even imagine how this will affect day-to-day life in the city...traffic is going to be unbelievable. It just seems so bizarre that such a big structure like that would topple into the river.

 

[phillyfan26]

Good to hear. Hopefully there aren't any more dead than the six already...

 

[Butterscotch]

Glad he's okay!

This reminds me of "Mothman Prophecies" which was a fictionalized account of the actual collapse of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River. I hope there aren't people under water that no one sees like in that story. I's scary to think this could happen to any bridge at any time. What an unimaginable tragedy

 

[phillyfan26]

Apparently there was a report in 2001 that questioned the complete safety of the bridge.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Sula, great to hear that your brother is okay! I'm still in shock, personally. I know that I've traveled over that bridge many times as well...

 

[shari schultz]

Has anyone heard from arw/Pop Bono (Amanda)?

I got a text message from arw around 8:40 she said she is ok.
Glad your brother is ok, Sula
My friend just heard from her brother, he takes that bridge daily and he chose to take another way home tonight.

 

[MaxFisher]

I was in a grad class a few blocks away. Everybody started getting calls and texts from family/friends. Surreal and scary.

A girl in class couldn't get a hold of her brother who comes home on the bridge each day.

I was able to get a block away from the wreckage. Very "War of the Worlds". Crowds of people, 100s of cops/firefighers.

 

[Diane L]

I'm glad you're safe, Max. I'm also glad that Sula's brother and ARW are okay.

 

[Teta040]

Butterscotch, it's scary how much you are reading my mind....are you sure you don't practice Legilimency?...I take a break from the Harry Potter threads to visit my old home in FYM and find this....apparently, the the UK is not the only place enduring a Dementor-filled summer. (Sorry, Jo Rowling recdently made a joke about the UK floods...in the last 2 HP books the Dementors were responsible for a lot of weather related and "natural disasters" in the Muggle world) I too thought underfunding b/c of Iraq and "Mothman Prophecies", only in the summer and the daytime...esp since that film was apparently based on a real-life incident. Oh wait, the Mothman Prophecies incident happened in the evening rush hour too! But in the winter...

it's really going to hit the fan when the investigation is made...this bridge was ONLY 40 yrs old! At least I hope it does. Sorry to be thinking on such a tangent but somebody brought up Katrina and infrastructure failure..This state has a Republican governor and I wonder if he will be more successful at getting a Federal response of some kind. I hate to be thinking like this, but I wonder how this will play politically.

I can't even imagine how terrible this is. In 1986 we had a collapse of I-90 here near Albany, NY, about a 50-foot section of the Interstate broke off over a creek, in a rural area but heavily traveled section of the highway. 14 dead, if I remember correctly. It was huge news here. And considering the effect that that comparatively minor incident had on travel traffic etc I can't imagine how this is going to affect daily life. It's not like you can just reroute traffic over the other bridge....

Sula, Rush, and everyone, I am so glad your familes okay...God was looking out for them. How frightening.....to have been on the bridge just before it went....or a simple hunch not to go may have saved a life. We must look for the best in any situation, no matter how tragic. Like the schoolkids getting rescued.

I will pray for all the familes affected by this. May God be with them and everyone.

 

[Acrobat Angel]

I only just heard about this, disasters like these are just shocking...
My deepest thoughts and prayers for those in the area and with friends and family affected by this ray: ray:
Take care and stay safe everyone

 

[arw]

I'm going to throw up. I've been shaking all night. I do not drive on this bridge daily but I know several people who do. I was at school all night so unable to watch any of the news. I heard about this around 6:30 when I walked in the school. One of my friends was sitting at the table in the kitchen in tears. She drives over the bridge everyday. She stopped by her boyfriends house on the way to school so she took a different way. Otherwise she could have been on the bridge. A few others at school had similar stories about how they could have been there. One of the Chefs was so upset that he put on msnbc for the students to watch on the big screen while they were cooking. He wouldn't say if he knew anyone but I could tell he was pretty shaken up by it all. Another Chef crossed the bridge at 6:00 pm tonight on his way to school.

I'm actually just getting home now from school (after midnight) so I haven't been able to see the news or pictures until now. I can't believe that entire bridge fell into the river. I've been on it a million times. I probably would have been on it this weekend. It's shocking. Nine people dead. Dozens missing. We all checked our phones all night to make sure everyone we knew was ok....

 

[snowbunny00774]

thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by this shocking thing.

 

[U2ITNOL]

CNN has video of the bridge collapsing. Appears to have been taken with a surveilance cam. http://www.cnn.com/video/

I can't imagine what it must have been like being in one of the vehicles crossing the bridge when it came down.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.