As many of you may have seen on the news a freeway bridge collapsed in Minneapolis just after 6 o'clock this evening.  It was the main span (both north and south bound lanes) of I-35W crossing the Mississippi River just on the eastern fringe of the downtown area.  As of a few minutes ago there are 7 confirmed fatalities - a MAJOR miracle considering it happened during the evening rush and there were a lot of folks on that bridge coming into downtown for a Twins baseball game as well as folks heading out of downtown going home from work.  Search and rescue operations on the river have been halted for the evening but will begin again at first light in the morning.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've driven across that bridge in the nearly 30 years I've lived in the Twin Cities metro area.  I-35W is the major north-south artery through Minneapolis so you can imagine the traffic load that road handles.  From the east windows of the office building I work in you can look right down the river at where the bridges are.  There is going to be a major traffic mess for quite awhile during the cleanup and rebuilding of that structure.  Thankfully my daily commute does not take me anywhere near that spot.

 

Thank you to those C3VR family members who have called concerned about my well being.  I had been home for just over half an hour when news of the collapse was announced.  Please say a prayer for those who were unfortunate victims of this event.  And also pray that anyone currently unaccounted for is found alive and well.

 

 

*** Update - this morning reports are less than a dozen fatalities and less than 2 dozen missing.  While any loss of life is tragic this is truely amazing considering the volume of traffic at that time of day on a 2,000 foot bridge.

 

Take care,

Dave

We were thinking of you in the chat room last night and praying you were safe.

You never know what will happen when you get out of bed in the morning.

 

Make every day count. And then count your blessings.

 

By the time I pulled myself away from the TV last night and logged into the site it was a ghost town.  Sorry to have missed Chat Night and to have caused any anxiety.  Thanks for the thoughts though.

 

[quote=dwright] ... Make every day count. And then count your blessings. [/quote]