Comments for 13 seconds in August

Comment on 13 seconds in August by MPD

MPD — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:16:31 +0000

Thank you for keeping this memorial website with the picture of the fallen bridge with numbers for the cars, that I can press, and get the story on each injured person. When I first went thru the ‘numbers’ in 2007 - cars on the collapsed bridge and prayed for the families of the deceased, and for recovery of the injured, I was amazed at many things and it took me 3 long sittings at the computer to do get thru the list. It mistified me; why there were 12 or so vehicles with no information.
Where did the drivers go? Why did they not stay around? Then another thing was the extent of facial, head, arm, leg, chest and knee injuries of survivors that were not really critical but serious and required extensive surgery and rehab. God bless the rescuers, surgeons, and medical personnel, and the survivors with long term pain and rehab. STRIB: please keep this portion (collapsed bridges with numbers) of the website forever to help us keep track of the survivors.

Comment on Help us identify by Rosanne Perlick

Rosanne Perlick — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:06:59 +0000

I had tickets to the Twins Game for Thursday to take my Grand daughter. I watched on TV when this horrific event occured and was so thankful the tickets were for the next day. The game was cancelled and I drove back home to Breezy Point. My heart goes out to all the victims of this tragic accident and I Thank God it was not meant to be that Abbie and I be a part of it. We do need to spend money on the infrastructure of our wonderful state of Minnesota. This will give jobs to the middle class and our roads do need fixing. We have one of the best Public Education systems in the United States. We must be doing something right! Vote For Minnesota Smart and not Minnesota Nice. It is so easy for the RICH to think there is nothing wrong but let us think about What would Jesus Do? Sarah will like this. Judge not lest you be judged. All the greatest minds do not know what is happening so what makes you so brilliant?

Comment on 13 seconds in August by J.Boltinghouse II

J.Boltinghouse II — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:29:08 +0000

Just wanted to say thanks for your outstanding journalism. Also want to commend all the rescuers and professionals continually helping those in need to this day. I live in Indianapolis and I drive for a company locally. There are a few bridges I’ve seen around here that could possibly face disaster one day, many are owned by the railroad. Cracks, holes,etc…scary stuff. The govt. needs to provide for their citizens safety. Hope your story will give them a wakeup call. Commendations to your paper and staff!

Comment on Help us identify by Sharon No Heart

Sharon No Heart — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:51:13 +0000

My daughter and I were in Minneapolis helping to care for my very sick mother who lives in NorthEast Minneapolis. We live in Rapid City, South Dakota. On August 1, 2007 we had a lot of family members visiting and we didn’t have enough food to feed everyone. So my sister asked if I would go to Cub Foods which is on the south-side of Minneapolis, because the food would be less expensive. As I was getting the money and grocery list from my sister, I looked at the clock and it was exactly 6:00 pm.

I told my daughter to come with me as I didn’t want to drive alone. But on the way, to the Interstate 35 at the Johnson Street entrance (which is only about a fiveminute drive), I started to think, it’s getting late and everyone is hungry, the gas I would be using to drive South-side, would make up the difference in the food price by shopping at this store. I told my daughter what I was thinking and she agreed. So we did our shopping at Rainbow Foods. When we came out of the store, we heard sirens and emergency vehicles rushing onto to the Interstate. The people standing in the parking lot at the food store were saying something pretty bad must have happened on the freeway. On our way back to my mother’s home, I turned on the radio and heard that Interstate 35 had collapsed.

A feeling ran through my daughter and I that I cannot express. We arrived home and to everyone’s relief, we were there in front of them. My sister told the other family members that she had told me to go South-side and do the shopping. So everyone was fearful we had taken that route.

I am so grateful that I didn’t listen to my sister and had listened to my inner spirit.

On August 1st this past Friday, my husband and I were eating our supper and we started talking about the bridge collapse and it brought back so many memories (good and bad). The tragedy is how so many people died and how so many were injured in an instant! We feel so bad for the families they left behind. Our prayers are with them and the families.

I realized then that my daughter and I had a divine intervention!!

Respectfully submitted.

Comment on 13 seconds in August by Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:18:51 +0000

Thank you so much for working so hard on this project. I have visited it several times over the last year and now (over three days) have worked my way through every single comment, video, and photo. Big fat tears have been falling non-stop. Amazing. I am so proud to be from Minnesota, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy.
Shawn

Comment on 13 seconds in August by Karen

Karen — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:02:42 +0000

I just learned about this web site. After yesterday’s remembrance of a year ago, it is meaningful to look at this web site, “13 seconds in August”. I was at the bridge last year, little over a week after it went down. To see the cars and devastion was (and is) an emotional memory. That day it was very quite and all you could hear is the river moving. With your very caring and hard work, I hope this site stays for a long time. To learn more about those who were on the bridge and where their vehicle was located makes it even more personal. It is horrible that 13 lives were lost and I can’t imagine the suffering their families have and are experiencing. I know the first thing I did on 8-1-07 was call family members to make sure they were ok. In this day and age of cell phones, I think as a mom or sister or spouse or daughter to be able to talk to my love ones would have brought some peace. I know that small word, “why”, can never be answered and yet I hope and pray families of those who died or survivors are able to find some peace in their yearly remembrance of those 13 seconds in August, 2007.

Comment on 13 seconds in August by Renee

Renee — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:44:04 +0000

This is a wonderful summary of the collapse! My son was running under the bridge as it began to fall. To see what he actually was seeing and experiencing is very helpful. He was very fortunate to make it out alive, and be able to help the students off the bus. A brief hesitation in disbelief, a slight stumble while running in his hurry to get out, or any little “incident”, could have meant a totally different outcome. As parents, we had a strange feeling he was there. Countless calls to his cell phone with no answer was not normal, making us worry even more. Tim’s girlfriend was waiting for him to come home and go to the Twins game - Tim is never late, but he was that night. Our hearts go out to the families who have lost someone, and to those dealing with the aftermath of this devastating catastrophe.

Comment on 13 seconds in August by David Cummer

David Cummer — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:36:41 +0000

The day the Stone Arch Bridge reopened I walked across it and over to an area about a block away from the bridge. I really didn’t have any reaction to the disaster until I saw a red car (#99) with another car on top of it. Because of this site I was able to find out that the first car belong to Melissa Hughes, and find out how she’s been doing.

Thank you for providing this site.

Comment on 13 seconds in August by Anita

Anita — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:00:33 +0000

A former resident of Blue Earth, Minnesota, I now live in Tennessee. I echo former Minneapolis resident Riley’s comments — You’ve done an outstanding job on this. Thank you to all for the efforts that have been made (and continue to be made) to report this tragedy.

Comment on 13 seconds in August by Riley

Riley — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:21:02 +0000

A former Minneapolis resident I now live in Texas. I was deeply saddened by the collapse of a bridge I traveled numerous times and all the lives torn apart by the even. It has been great to be kept informed by you guys concerning this tragedy. I commend you on an incredible job well done with this project. Thanks so much.