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Tragedy

The I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River has collapsed. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this tragedy.

This entry was posted by ubelmann on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 7:18 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. It is one of 821 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.

12 comments to Tragedy

  • CarterHayes
    August 1st, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    My prayers and thoughts are with everyone up in the Twin Cities.

  • New Britain Bo
    August 1st, 2007 at 8:15 pm

    Not good. Min 50, more like 100+ cars were on the bridge. Very sad.

  • BeenAroundAwhile Guy
    August 1st, 2007 at 8:44 pm

    Suddenly baseball is just a game. Thoughts and prayers.

  • punmanbowler
    August 1st, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    I just saw the news after the Sox game ended. I cannot believe this. This is so tragic. My prayers are with them too. I hope that death count stops where it is.

  • brianS
    August 1st, 2007 at 10:17 pm

    It was good to see so many of the Nation on the game thread. I'm 2000+ miles away from my family (all safe, thankfully). Seeing so many of you in the thread made me feel a little bit closer to home on a really tough day.

  • themoff02
    August 1st, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    My thoughts and prayers with everyone involved.

    I actually walked over the Washington Ave overpass of 35W (maybe 1/2 mile from the beginning of the collapse) about 15 minutes after the 35W bridge fell down. It was a pretty surreal experience. Definitely felt weird going to a ballgame right then but the police were trying to get everyone out of the vicinity. Plus flooding 20,000 people right after a tragedy would only exacerbate the situation. The Twins made the right decision in that regards.

    I do want to commend the Minneapolis police, Red cross, etc. They did a truly wonderful job minimizing the situation and handling the tragedy. The entire area was cordoned off within 20 minutes after the collapse and the area was as unchaotic as a situation such as a collapse could have possibly been. It was heartening to know that the people who needed to step up were able to when necessary.

  • DK
    August 1st, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    My thoughts as well are with everyone involved or affected by this tragedy.

    I live a few blocks north of the university - I just finished my undergrad there and am starting law school in a month. Since my hometown is Owatonna, I've driven over that bridge many times. Even after seeing the images and videos it's extremely difficult for me to get my head around the reality of this disaster.

    I too was at the game tonight. A few friends and I drove over the freeway on 8th Street - about five blocks north of the bridge - at what turned out to be shortly after the collapse occured. We noticed and remarked on the backup of cars southbound and the lack of cars going north, but we didn't understand until we got downtown and my friend's parents called. We watched for a few minutes from upriver but couldn't see much more than dust and smoke from where we were because of the bend of the river. We went ahead into the game since we were there and thought it wouldn't be helpful to try to drive back at that point.

  • Rhubarb_Runner
    August 2nd, 2007 at 6:46 am

    I had planned on joining the gamelog for a while before heading off to a late softball game, but ended up engrossed by CNN and MSNBC coverage. A quick call to my parents and I found out that the local church youth group there was down for the game. I know in my mind that they must have already been at the Dome, but I'm hoping to read somewhere that confirms it. Meanwhile, my prayers are with everyone caught by the tragedy.

    I have a certain amount of pride over the emergency response, Gov. Pawlenty & Coleman and Klobuchar's media handling, and just everyone there doing such a great job of pitching in or staying out of the way.

    I checked our DB this morning; it looks like that rail line isn't part of UPRR's network. Probably BNSF, more than likely industry track. I kept wanting to smack the TV news folks -- the RR guys would lookup and know immediately if hazmat was required for that damaged tank car, so there was no need to even mention that.

  • zooomx
    August 2nd, 2007 at 7:53 am

    I was working the dinner shift last night and we had the new on the TV's with captioning on. We were way too busy for me to catch much of what was going on. It hit me hard this morning when I watched the news coverage on TV. I too was amazed at the emergency response teams efforts. I also felt much pride at the stories of victims and bystanders who stuck around and helped others get to safety. Can you imagine how scary it was even minutes after the dust cleared. These are the true heroes that I will hold up for my children to see.

    My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the friends and family who are coping with such a tragic event.

  • Jeff A
    August 2nd, 2007 at 7:57 am

    Glad to hear that apparently everyone in the nation is okay. A terrible situation. There's nothing more to add except to say that my prayers go out to everyone affected.

  • spycake
    August 2nd, 2007 at 10:22 am

    Just checking in. Took the bus to the Dome before the collapse -- didn't hear about it at all until the announcement just before the first pitch. Fortunately, everybody in my party arrived safely.

    Very glad to hear from fellow citizens, and I'm very, very thankful that my biggest problem today is a Twins loss. Here's hoping for a speedy resolution and recovery for all those involved.