Bridge Disaster (or any disaster) and You

[Rick Donaldson]

This bridge collapse is exactly the sort of thing I preach about. Be prepared. Be ready for anything.

From my initial assessment, it appears that several things happened.

1) The bridge collapsed.

2) Several vehicles went into the drink. Some were crushed. There were several small fires. There was a lot of dust in the air from the videos I've reviewed this morning (and some are posted)

3) Emergency services were slow to respond - and as of now, I have heard reports that it was up to an HOUR.

4) People involved, and nearby bystanders went to the aid of those in trouble.



This brings several things to mind for me. Americans will run to the aid of their fellow Americans in time of need. They always do.

I tell people in a disaster, run the other way. Your first job is to survive. IF you can safely help people then you should, if you're in danger, then saving yourself might sound selfish, and perhaps it is, but if you're dead you're one more victim.

If people did NOT help, assuming it was really nearly an hour before first responders arrived, then many more people likely would be dead now.

I can't see any "underlying cause" immediately jumping out of any of the pictures, other than perhaps catastrophic structural collapse, but everyone knows that "fires can't melt steel" so, gosh it had to have been a deliberate act of terrorism, and a conspiracy.... since it happened right at 6PM on a major highway. (Sorry, that was sarcasm, in case you didn't get the remarks). I figured I'd get in the conspiracy theory before they start in on them.....

What I can say from my personal point of view, is that people helped rescue others. Good on them. No matter what I say about "running away", life is important. Once it is gone, it is gone and never coming back.

But, people being prepared for this sort of thing, and knowing what to do in an emergency is the ONE thing YOU can do to help yourself and others. As you can see from this incident, you can now understand that people really can't "predict" when something is going to happen, and sometimes happen quickly. In other words, no matter how much you prepare, you will never know PRECISELY what random circumstances will be prevalent around you in the midst of a disaster.

So... you can approach this as a "hope and pray" situation, or you can think constantly about what you would do in various situations. Mentally practice things. I'm not kiding, think it through. You will KNOW what to do when the time comes.

I'll give you an example. A bad one.

You're driving to work in the morning, along a stretch of road that is mostly open fields, hills and fences. Suddenly you see some cars that have driven off the road into fences, or hit one another. No easy explanation as you approach. You slow your speed prepared to stop if necessary. There appears to be no one standing around, cars are still running, and in fact you see several people laying on the ground. Suddenly the windshield on your car explodes into a million pieces of glass.

What do you do?

---

The scenario is a low probability in happening, but it's one that some of us have discussed in the past.

But, we're looking at a sniper situation. He/she has taken out several people on the road and is hiding on a hill nearby. He missed you, but apparently hasn't missed the other people. They are wounded or dead at this point and your windshield is now gone.

If he is shooting a high powered rifle from a distance, he is most likely taking aim at you again, after your window vanished in front of you. You need to get down, and OUT of there FAST.

How you do it, will depend on which direction he shot from, which direction you can go, what you can do to prevent anyone else from being hit, do you have a cell phone (or ham radio like I have) and can you save yourself quickly.

This is just one thing to think about. There are many scenarios like this that could involve you. But, this is a kind of mental exercise. Why do it? It keeps you sharp, thinking and understanding.

People who've taken a martial art of some sort can repeat certain moves over and over again, until they become part of them, part of their nature. If they are involved in a "fight" or some attack, those "second nature" movements take over, they don't have to THINK about what they are going to do to stop the attack.

The same thing can apply to emergency situations.

Alright, I guess that's all I have to say about this for now.

Think. It keeps you young... and alive.

[Rick Donaldson]

One last observation.....

Some people have put down "ham radio" in recent months here on this site as "not viable" and other things, given disasters, or worse when the SHTF scenarios.

But, let me point out that within 5-6 minutes of the bridge collapse, NO PHONES WORKED. NO CELLPHONES WORKED.

Amateur radio would have worked in that area, and my bet is, we will hear about ham radio operators helping in this disaster soon enough.

Rick

[Rick Donaldson]

(Another area heard from about Ham radio and this bridge disaster)

Geek Dads, Moms & Kids to the Rescue

By John Baichtal August 02, 2007 | 9:15:36 AMCategories: Radio and kids

I covered this in a previous post, but in light of the Minneapolis bridge collapse I want to reiterate how important the various Amateur Radio emergency services are.

My mom drove over the bridge approximately the same time as the collapse, so naturally I called her cell phone to make sure she was alright. Guess what? Mobile service was completely disrupted, with calls not getting through or going straight to voice mail. And this was a relatively small and localized disaster. What would happen if something big happened?

Well, something big did happen and communications were paralyzed -- not just for a couple of hours or so, but for days and days. Who came to the rescue? An estimated one thousand hams, creating a radio-based communication net to support government departments and private individuals.

The bridge collapse crystallized for me the fact that our communications net is weaker than it's ever been. Most of us now rely on the easily-overloaded cell network. Fewer and fewer people have land lines, which are themselves vulnerable. So it's up to us, Geek Dads, Moms and Kids! Get licensed! Join an emergency communications group!

If you're interested in learning more about Amateur Radio and its emergency services, check out the following links:

(Unfortunately, every nation has its own rules regarding Amateur Radio so if you're not from the U.S., you'll have to do your own research. If you'd like, start here.)

ARRL, the biggest ham radio organization in the U.S., with about 152,000 members.

ARES, Amateur Radio Emergency Services.

RACES, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services.

To get licensed, this is the absolute learning resource: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual: All You Need to Become an Amateur Radio Operator.

[Rick Donaldson]

Here is a story from another time, another place, same circumstances though.

From the archives: The day the Sixth Avenue bridge fell in Des Moines


August 2, 2007


On April 17, 1965, the Sixth Avenue bridge, possibly weakened by flood waters, fell into the river. The following is excerpted from a story by Jack Gillard in the next day’s Des Moines Sunday Register.

A huge section of the Sixth Avenue bridge collapsed and fell into the Des Moines River shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday.

Witnesses who saw the section collapse told police that apparently no cars fell into the river. (Editor’s note: see sidebar, left, for more about cars that were on the bridge.)

One witness said there were three cars on the bridge at the time but they were able to turn around and get off the bridge.

The middle section that fell was about 100 feet long and over half the width of the 36-foot-wide bridge, which was built in 1908.

An estimated 10,000 telephones were knocked out of service when seven cables, running beneath the bridge, were severed. It was expected to take 72 hours before all service is restored.

Jack Pilmer of 5905 Clark St. said he was making a left-hand turn from Hickman Road onto the bridge when he saw the section slide into the river.

Pilmer said it made a “rumble and a splash.”

“There were three cars on the bridge and they made a fast turn-around and got the daylights of out of there,” he said.

Pilmer said he made an emergency call on his two-way car radio that he carries as a member of the Des Moines Mobile Emergency Team, an amateur radio outfit, to have anyone listening on the radio call the Des Moines police.

He stopped his car and blocked traffic at the south end of the bridge. Two other members of the mobile emergency team, Harold Leslie of 1821 Lay St. and Jerry Burns of 1815 Lay St., who were near the bridge, blocked traffic at the other end.

First policeman on the scene was Patrolman Jay Knight who drove his car partway onto the bridge.

“I could feel the bridge starting to move under the car and I got out of there in a hurry,” Knight said.

Police immediately blocked off the bridge to traffic. A snow fence barricade was set up at both ends to keep persons from walking out on the bridge.

The section that fell was over the main channel of the Des Moines River which has been swollen with flood waters for the last two weeks.

City officials were hesitant to say whether the flood waters had weakened the bridge.

It was reported that the bridge had developed a sag after two weeks of buffeting by flood waters.

A Western Union driver, Larry Lawton of 3111 S.E. Fourteenth St., said he drove over the bridge at 2 p.m. Saturday and could feel it move under his car.

“You could feel it going up and down, but there wasn’t much play in it,” he said. “I thought the motion was normal.”

“This is going to give people a case of ‘bridge jitters’ every time they drive over one,” said a bystander.

[Rick Donaldson]

Fox is talking NOW about radio usage, and lack of cellular phones. Apparently cells were offline for "just awhile".

[Ryan Ruck]

Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson

Some people have put down "ham radio" in recent months here on this site as "not viable" and other things, given disasters, or worse when the SHTF scenarios.

Who here has put down ham?!?

They deserve a thorough

[catfish]

Cell phones were spotty from about 7 til 8 or so, especially if you had a 612 or 952 area code. It was a little scary as me and my friends were trying to get through to people that might have been there. 35W is a highly traveled freeway, especially around that time of day. I have driven over that bridge and been on that road thousands of times, I used to go fishing almost underneath it catching carp on the Mississippi. I dont think it tood an hour for emergency services to get there, however with traffic at that time of day I know it delayed them. With the bridge out during rush hour Im sure the other major roads in the immediate area were jammed up as well. Most people dont realize how bad traffic in the twin cities really is during rush hour. It sucks. Today it took me an hour and a half to get from Plymouth to Rosemount which is about 35 miles.

This is a terrible catastrophe for the Twin Cities with repercussions lasting for years.

[Ryan Ruck]

Glad to hear you are okay catfish!