Mississippi River Bridge Collapse

This is an unusual post to a health care blog, but I wanted to share it with you. I can say that the response of the health care provider community is amazing, and a great testiment to the high quality of U.S. health care.
The I35W bridge is about 10 miles west of our home, just on the west of the U of MN campus. The Humphrey Metrodome, where the Twins play, is about 4 blocks west of the freeway. It is likely that some of those cars were on the way to the Twins-Kansas City Royals game.
But here’s my story.
My sons, Dan and Dave (and his wife Alicia) had a softball doubleheader tonight. The first game was to start at 6:15, on the ballfields at 20th Ave and 2nd Street, roughly three blocks from I35W on the west, and two blocks south of the Mississippi River.
I arrived at the ballfield at 6:05, and walked across the field. About the time I got to the ballfield where the boys would be playing, I heard the first sirens. And there were many sirens. Son David came about five minutes later. All I knew was that something big was going on, but felt it could have been police chasing someone, as squad cars drove past the ballfields on my left and right, and to the west of me, they were parking at the foot of a bridge that leads north, parallel to I35W.
Then I saw black smoke in the NW, and fire trucks started to appear. And more cop cars. One of the ball players called his brother, and that’s when we knew the bridge had collapsed, but we knew nothing else.
Dan came about 6:20, and he had crossed the bridge that parallels I35W. He saw the bridge down in the water, but had no details. I tried to call people to see what they knew, but cell phone traffic stalled out. Around 7:10 I walked two blocks north to the river and could see one of the spans laying at a 45 degree angle down into the river. I walked west and looked north and could see another span hanging down from the north, into the river. But I still had no idea that so much of the bridge had collapsed flat into the water.
I finally left the ballfields after 8 p.m. and listened to radio reports. Still, it wasn’t until I got home at 9:20, after picking my wife up from work, just how devastating this was.
Okay. My irony, and evidence of God working to protect me and my family: When I checked directions to the ballfield, I saw that I could take I94, to Riverside and so forth, or I could I35W and exit, and so forth. I chose I94. There is absolutely no question that I would have been on that bridge, or very near to it (within 5 minutes one way or the other, or on it) when it collapsed.
My writing partner, Greg Dattilo, had left my office just past 5 p.m. He drove across that span around 5:30 p.m.
Of course, we will hear many stories like this. This morning we learned that a family friend lost her daughter in this tragedy. Joy Blackhawk’s youngest, Julia. We do not know details.
Now we watch and see.
This ranks right up there with Hurricane Camille (we lived in Gulfport, MS when it hit), and the Twin Towers.
We have checked with our own family members, and everyone seems to be accounted for.