Unnatural disaster

Today at 6:09pm, the Interstate 35W bridge that crossed over the Mississippi River collapsed. The injury and death toll will rise higher when the searches resume tomorrow morning and people in the Twin Cities area are stunned. We drove across the bridge all the time and never thought twice about its stability. The side going north was closed the last two weekends for construction and I kept thinking, “I need to get over the river! This is so fucking irritating!” Today, other people might have been thinking the same thing. As construction workers continued working, one lane was open and cars were in it.

This might not be a natural disaster of epic proportions like an earthquake or a hurricane, but it still hits very close to home. I’ve had friends and family call and send e-mails from across the country checking to make sure we were all safe. We are. Many are not. But I have confidence in “Minnesota nice.” We will stand as one to support and help each other in this time of need. We will recover, we will heal and we will repair the damages that this day has brought about. And we’ll rebuild the bridge.