Balkinization  

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Collapse

Michael Stokes Paulsen

This will be another post not about law, but I'll make it short. Indulge me; it is, after all, my city.

I have driven over the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River hundreds, probably thousands of times. It's the way to piano lessons, the lake, the architecture school, and just about everything else. And it's the way back. It is the aorta of urban life for scores of thousands of other residents of the Twin Cities, some of whom died today crossing that bridge during rush hour -- the totals will, I fear, be much higher tomorrow -- when it collapsed, completely, into the river.

Even now, after watching the same TV images for nearly six hours, comforting my 9-year-old girl and talking with my 15-year-old boy (who got his learner's permit last Monday), it's hard to believe.

My prayers are with the victims, their families, and the rescuers. As it approaches midnight, the media are now calling it a "recovery" operation, not rescue. They will resume in the morning.

Comments:

My wife and I have been watching for the past few hours; our prayers are also with the victims and survivors.
 

My parents live there too. I was raised in/near Minneapolis, and went to school near there (UofM, Marshall).

My thoughts are for the victims and their families as well.

Sincerely,
-- Arne
 

Ditto everything above. Really wonderful, but hard, to listen to the phone interviews of those who were in the cars when the bridge collapsed yet had the wherewithal to help others to safety.
 

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