(Photos from Minneapolis Star Tribune website, 08/01/08)

One Year Later...

Disaster struck I-35W bridge a year ago today
By Elizabeth Mohr and Debra O'Connor Pioneer Press
Article reprinted from Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 08/01/08)

It was 6:05 p.m. a year ago today when the Interstate 35W bridge in downtown Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River. Thirteen people died; 145 were injured. The scene of twisted metal and bloody agony shocked the nation. Victims were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A new bridge is quickly taking shape. But lives aren't fixed so easily. The collapse left the victims to cope with financial, physical and psychological problems. The effects were as varied as the people who experienced the disaster. Some seem to have moved on with few scars. But the lives of many were forever changed.

(Note -- This bridge disaster has become an emotional and political lightning rod for this area -- one that will not end any time soon. People are still grieving and politicians are still arguing over monies to fix all the other infrastrucutre needs in the state. Nevertheless, on this date, in a little over an hour from now, we Minnesotans will pause... pray... and remember... -- SJM)