Holy shit.
Godbless everyone who came to help. I can’t describe any better feeling than seeing the ‘St. Croix Water Rescue Team’.
I am one of the three people who don’t have a digital camera, I’ll get the photos developed this weekend.
God bless. Stay safe. And pray for all of the people on the bridge, and all of the heroes coming from near and far to come help.
Sean
Edit: My good friend Noah Kunin lives in between 35 and 10th on the south west side of the river. He’s got some pictures up at http://www.blanked-out.com/.
A little more: This ain’t the time for politics, but I have to say seeing Michelle Malkin linking to Noah made me giggle.
Edit: best pictures i’ve seen so far http://flickr.com/photos/s4xton/sets/72157601157770382/
I live just on the other side of the 10th ave bridge, right next to 35W. It is simply amazing what happened, and it shows that there are bigger problems in life then my minor concerns.
Sean,
Great post. Glad you’re safe and home.
I was thinking of you, Monica, & Noah. I’m glad you are all safe.
When my daughter was going to the U of M, she lived not far from the Bridge. From her livingroom window at the apratments off 10th Ave, you could see 35W and train tracks. She lives in Edina now.
My prayers are with everyone connected with this unfortunate happening. This is going to take years to rebuild.
I’m so glad to see this post.
Good job staying above the political crap that we read on the blogs from the ‘other side’.
Glad to hear you’re safe.
I’ve noticed a lot of posts all over the web from the other side playing politics this morning, and am glad Publius isn’t going there this morning.
We lived right by 35w and Hennepin for many years, and obviously have traveled that bridge 1,000s of times. We never dreamed that bridge would collapse. I hope all the friends and neighbors I had when we lived there are safe. My wife and I are praying for every one of them.
Nitro,
The in addition to what you have seen the DailyKOS, democraticunderground along with Elwyn Tinklenberg have all taken the low road as well. We will all have plenty of time to find the cause for what has happened and then assign accountability. Until then the only thing any of us should do is to do what we can to help.
Kerosene, go over to MDE with your crap. Its welcome there.
DJZ,
I hope you condemned this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=160&topic_id=26623&mesg_id=26639
And this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=160&topic_id=26623&mesg_id=26641
And this too:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=160&topic_id=26623&mesg_id=26642
And while we’re at it, this too: http://politiku.blogspot.com/
And where is our Commissioner of Transportation during all of this……
There will be plenty of time for our usual back and forth later.
In the meantime, knock this shit off. Sean
Sean,
I just heard that the feds are pledging $5 million to pay for traffic re-routing and other help and that $250 million will likely follow to cover costs associated with re-building. That is great news for Minnesota.
I have the day off of work (Steph and I are heading to Wisconsin for some wedding planning) so I’m watching the news conference too.
Secretary Peters did just pledge 5M for immediate needs and that is great. This is gonna take a few years, and one day it will be an annoyance “Oh geez — I’ve got to go all the way around to 280 to get where I need to go” but thats no day soon.
It’s been great to see all of the people down here. The Eden Prairie police department is maintaining the roadblock and security cordon down the road, there was a Ramsay County sheriffs department suv that just sped by. So many thanks to all of them and everyone who came to help. Sean
Mike:
You and the Republicans who have demanded tax cuts at the expense of our quality of life here in Minnesota have blood on your hands.
DFL leaders have been demanding more transportation funding, but Pawlenty has vetoed the last two bills. It’s a culture of greed that’s killing our state.
I hope you like your tax cuts. Sam
C’mon Sam, take it over to MDE where its needed.
Here’s a list of the 72 metro area bridges with a deficiency rating equal to or greater than that bridge. Bridges are rated on a scale of 1 to 100. A rating of 50 or below is considered deficient. Again, we have 71 now in the metro area. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/programmanagement/pdf/planning_metro_dist.pdf
Sam,
Let’s try not to bring politics into this. This wasn’t the fault of the GOP or the DFL or the Chicago White Sox. It was a tragedy. Let’s not politicize it.
A close friend of mine was on the North end of the bridge when it collapsed. I just got a quick note from him to let me know that he is alive, has a compressed disk in his back and is looking at rehab — they haven’t ruled out surgery yet.
Out of respect to the guys who run this place, I will not comment politically other than to say that our President is already using this disaster for political advantage. (He waited a whole 16 hours to do it, too.) Also, considering the fanfare and printer ink spilled on Pawlenty’s vetos, there is no way that this will not be politicized. Whether you believe he deserves it or not, he has a lot to answer for at the moment.
Sean, glad to hear you’re ok.
The one nice thing about the construction that’s been going on around here is I think most people from the neighborhood have been off that stretch of 35W for some time, what with the entrance on University having been closed for the last 6 weeks.
All is well in my end of the world too, though it’s hard to navigate around with all the traffic. Hopefully the people looking to get a first-hand glimpse will GO AWAY, though…
I wish to interview someone re I35W bridge collaspe. Do advise whom I should contact. My show UPDATE streams and airs live Sundays from 5-6 p.m. EST on TALKRadio1430 WLKF, Lakeland, FL
Streams from http://www.lakeland.net/updateshow
Airs live from http://www.wlkf.com Studio number is 863/682-1430.
Do advise ASAP