We're watching online videos of the bridge collapse. I hope everyone and their relatives are ok, it looks really scary. A co-worker's daughter lives there and he can't get through to call her, I guess all the circuits are busy.
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We're watching online videos of the bridge collapse. I hope everyone and their relatives are ok, it looks really scary. A co-worker's daughter lives there and he can't get through to call her, I guess all the circuits are busy.
I live just over a mile from the bridge...we are ok, thank goodness. Part of the bridge came down over a very popular area to cycle (West River Road).
I just can't believe it happened. Rush hour and Twins traffic. :( :eek:
It's unbelievable. Looks like the aftermath of an earthquake...without the earthquake!
Extra scary thing is that my dad actually works for the construction company (PCI) that was doing the concrete maintenance on the bridge surface. He milled that bridge last weekend. Word is there is one PCI worker who is unaccounted for. I'm so thankful my dad wasn't out there....
It looks so scary just from the pictures. Northstar, I'm glad you and your father are ok...and I hope everyone you know is accounted for. I hear there are still people stranded on the bridge?
At this point I don't think there is anyone left on the bridge. There are cars, etc. burning and a lot of rescue workers out there.
How will this impact traffic and people getting to their jobs? I know Seattle would practically be shut down if a bridge were to be lost. It's scary because some of ours are very old...I will drive extra fast over them when I go home tonight.
Thanks for your concern.
This is very surreal. I ride under that bridge all the time. I was on a bike ride south of St. Paul when it happened. I had such a weird bad feeling tonight I almost didn't go on my group ride because I was having such bad vibes, but I shook it off because I promised the group I'd practice paceline training for a team time trial coming up. On a big downhill I was at the front of a four-person paceline and I heard that horrendous sound when bikes crash. Two of the women in my line were lying on the ground and traffic luckily stopped in time. It was very disturbing to see teammates go down like that, especially when I was leading the line. Some of us continued our ride, and about 20 min. later, another teammate got a phone call from her husband telling her what had happened with the bridge.
The ride home was quiet and eerie, not just us, but the traffic, the people in St. Paul, everything was just weird.
The governor's car was just leaving the gov's mansion while we rode by on Summit Av.
I crossed the river on the way home and there were people standing there looking upriver and a rescue boat was going by.
When I got home there were frantic messages from my family, all worried about me and wondering where I was.
Waiting for my sweetie to get home from the Twins game. His cell phone is sitting here on the kitchen counter, so I have no idea when to expect him.
Northstar, I'm glad your dad is okay. This is so sad, I can't even watch t.v. Just listening to NPR.
Take Care everyone,
Kate:(
I just saw what happened on tv. Oh my goodness- what a terrifying evening! :eek: I can't imagine what your city is going through right now- so saddened for everyone.
I'm praying extra hard for a very low casualty count- and for most to return home safe and sound tonight... :(
Extra butterflies to get Pyxichik's sweetie home safe and soon. And to help the rescue workers find *everyone*!!
Terrible, terrible thing to see:eek:
Hugs,
~T~
Reminder, in an emergency such as this stay off the phone.Quote:
Originally Posted by teigyr
Leave the lines open for emergency workers.
The reason is dial tone is a finite thing. You would think we can all call at once but there are a limited (while amazingly huge number) of circuits in each central office. If everyone calls or calls in at once, then all circuits are busy.
Obviously internet works and you may be able to text message.
If there's anyone on this board who needs to contact people out of the area to let them know you're ok, one option could be to post and I'm sure a TE'er out of the area can call your people. I'll be up for a while, others will too while I think and pray for the families.
Pyxichick, I'm sure the stadium has evacuation plans to get people informed of safe alternate routes and home safely. And I'll bet he'll never leaves without his cell phone again ;-) Please let us know when he's home safe.
I will be up for another 15 minutes or so. I have free long distance thru my cell phone. Anybody in Minn/St.P needs to contact someone out of area, let me know and I will pass on the message. PM me.
:eek: Holy !!!
pyxichick-i hope your sweetie comes home soon..
NOrthstar-good to hear your dad wasn't there.
To all other folks in the area, our thoughts are with you.
Take care
C
My thoughts are with you all.
Being on a site like this so brings people from around the world together.
I just saw the news and the terrible catastrophe in Minneapolis.
It appears to be a miracle the yellow school bus ended up the right way and the children seemed to be alright.
pyxichick, sending you a huge hug. This must be such a worrying time for you and words seem so useless right now but please know that you are cared about, even from thousands of miles away. Perhaps by now your 'sweetie' has arrived home or at least you have had some news from him.
Sally
Just watching this awful tragedy now (9am here).
Was worried when I see it because I know many of the TE members are from Minneapolis.
Thinking of you all (((((hugs)))))
Even in the small format of a pc screen, the scenes from this catastrophe are mind-boggling. I hope all TE'ers and their significant others are safe and sound.
Being an earthquake state native with a sister who's a megatelcom employee, our family of course have a phone-tree plan ... somewhere. Not that I'd remember the plan or where to find it in an emergency. Still, on paper, it makes sense to have one person in the zone who is the contact person and a network outside who relay messages. And maybe, having thought this through, we would remember or recreate the plan when the need arose.
My thoughts go out to all the Minneapolis folks.
If we have an earthquake here, the folks in San Jose call me. If there's an earthquake in San Jose, I call all of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels
East Hill
Minneapolis folks, I hope this note finds you and your loved ones safe. You are in my prayers. I often wonder about the safety of a old bridge that crosses the Missouri coming into our town. It is on the schedule to be replaced in the next few years.
pyxichick- are you OK? Still worrying about your sweetie over here...
{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}} to all of you in Minneapolis as well as all of you elsewhere who may have family or friends there.
Like TriGirl said, Pyxichick please let us know your sweetie made it home safe and sound!
We do? :confused: I think we need to re-do that, I think it was we make that one call out to EK eliphant but now she's in the UK. Could still call there or you .... but excuse the thread hijack.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels
Pyxichick? Mr Pyxichick? It could take him a while to get home between the crowd and the situation. I was at home when the Loma Prieta hit. Everyone here shares stories of "where where you when the big one (really a medium one) hit ...." Some East Bay friends who work in the city and SF friends who work in East Bay took over 24 hours to get home. Several just stayed where they were overnight.
Yeah, basically I guess we need a flexible quasiplan, more like nearest relative outside the area gets called by someone inside. Everybody else contacts that outside person, and said person sets up a phone tree as soon as there's any real info. Cuz you never really know where "the area" is gonna be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
I was here in Norway when the Loma Prieta hit, but I recall that the ladies who lived in "the old egg house" were at Candlestick Park at the ball game. They got kept there, I think, until enough was known about safe routes that people could be released out to their cars. So Mr. Pyxiechick may be safe and well, but stuck somewhere waiting for the all clear signal. Or maybe he's home already, but we don't know it because the Pyxiechicks have a modem connection and the phone lines are all snarled. Anyway, let's hope for the best.
Oh yikes. My thoughts are with everyone in Minneapolis.
Sending out compassion and hoping for the best for everyone caught up in this tragedy.
I've lived through some pretty bad hurricanes, but at least they give you some time to prepare. This bridge collapse, well, there's no way you could prepare for that if you're just an ordinary citizen, though it's beginning to sound as if the bridge's structural integrity was at least questionable.
Pyxichick, I hope your honey is OK.
Pyxichick, please let us know about your DH. I have a whole lot of relatives in Minneapolis, including my brother. I couldn't get through on my cell phone, but e-mail worked fine. They are all OK.
This is such a nightmare. Thoughts and prayers going out to all of you in MN.
Pyxichick, is everything okay?
I was living near Peidmont Ave at the time, looking for a new job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels
I had an interview with East Bay Regional Parks District that got canceled at the last minute. So I was home watching da' game when "woah, this is a big one" :(
If the interview had gone as scheduled I would have been on the freeway at the time, you know, the one that's no longer there. :(
Hopefully Pyxichick & Mr Pyxichick are being thankful that he's safe ;)
T&P and butterflies to the families there.
I hope Mr. Pyxichick is ok also.
I was finally able to watch news coverage last night, I can't even imagine how everyone is coping. So scary and really enforces the fact that all of us need a disaster plan and phone tree.
Am hoping for the best for all the TE people and their loved ones...am also hoping the missing people are just stuck somewhere trying to get home.
Pyxichick, any updates? :confused: I'm wishing the best for you and your family. Please let us know you're sweetie is safe.
No word from her blog either. I hope he's okay.Quote:
Originally Posted by sundial
Thinking of you all. What a terrible thing to happen.
Reminds me I have emergency supplies at home and always refining what I've got. I've been meaning to have a kit in the car and at work. You can get stuck somewhere for a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by teigyr
what an absolutely horrifying tragedy... my thoughts are with everyone living there and with loved ones there... so, so sad. :(
From the lower end of the Mississippi - ((((((((upper Miss))))))))
Gives me the willies - like most cities we'd be lost without our bridges. Nationally we're getting towards the end of the lifespan for many bridges, and unfortunately most are not funded for replacement. I miss my innocent days before I started working for a huge engineering firm. In the old daze I just worried about biology things.
Hug a civil engineer they get to figure out how to make our aging bridges last a wee bit longer, design new ones, and figure out what went wrong.
Clogged phone lines - we managed to do it for weeks after Katrina. Cell phone companies were begging people to text message since it uses a different frequency than voice and goes faster. I could call out - I was evacuated out of the area "roaming" but no one could call me. Phone calls within the area code were the most difficult. So, yes, call someone out of the area, or email, to let everyone know you're OK in case of a disaster.
I'm really hoping that the only reason we haven't heard from the Pyxichick family is cuz the communication lines are overloaded.
Thanks for your good wishes, I'm sorry this is the first chance I've had to get back on here.
Michael came home safely late last night. The game went into extra innings and when he got home, he knew what had happened, but hadn't seen any pictures or knew the extent of the damage. So we sat up late watching the news.
I've heard so many stories of people who say they had just gone over the bridge earlier that day, or decided to take a different route that night. Lots of close calls, but nobody that I know was involved.
The city is sort of in shock right now I think. My friend works downtown and can see the bridge from her building. She said it was like a circus today with helicopters and national media and people walking dogs and pushing baby strollers down there just to get a look at what happened.
It's amazing so many people survived the fall.
There are a lot of good people out there who have and are helping out, and it's really heartwarming to hear from friends and acquaintances who are concerned about everyone's well-being.
Thanks for all your good wishes. Send your good thoughts to the families of people who didn't make it.
Namaste,
Kate
Hi KateQuote:
Originally Posted by pyxichick
I came home late last night from work, checked to see if you had replied and nothing! Just logged on and so very happy to read your post, that your Michael is home safe.
pyxichick??? What does this name mean to me, really odd, there is no face when I think about you, yet I felt so very sad and worried yesterday about your post on here.
I discover/learn so many different things by coming on this site.
Namaste? Never heard of it, so I had a look on the internet, I am not religious but I was interested in what I read. I am sure if nothing else, others seeing this lovely photograph of the children will make them smile.....I hope.
Hope Minnieapolis and it's people recover real soon.
Sally
Thanks to you I also came across this, think it sums people up on this site, don't you? I might keep this on the end of all my posts.