bridge collapse

No one in my family--as far as I've heard, no one I know--was on the I-35W bridge when it collapsed in Minneapolis yesterday. Here's a comment from my dad:

In the midst of last evening's rush hour the bridge collapsed --and we don't know, and probably won't know for some time, the cause of the collapse. But I have been impressed by the citizen and government reaction to the collapse. People immediately came to the aid of the victims. Even some of the victims, instead of fleeing the scene, came to the aid of other people who were in the water, helping them to safety. Ambulances and other vehicles arrived almost immediately, and proceeded in an orderly manner to get the injured to hospitals. Government rescue boats arrived quickly. Divers at considerable risk went into the water searching for people who were trapped. Everything seemed very organized. This morning even the traffic was flowing remarkably smoothly. Overnight signs had been erected, replacing the bridge by changing a major street into a semi-freeway to connect the two major freeways in the city. In other words, although people died and we still have serious problems ahead, the response here was almost the antithesis of the response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Dad likes Minnesota a lot. Obviously, "bridge collapse" is nowhere near the scale of "levees fail," but it's nice to know the city's handling things. Reminds me of the Garrison Keillor book I'm reading... but maybe I'll get to that in another post.