Posted on 05/24/2013 12:18:57 AM PDT by djf
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A portion of an Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River, about 60 miles north of Seattle, collapsed Thursday, sending three vehicles and people plunging into the cold water at least 50 feet below.
Amazingly, there were no fatalities, Skagit County authorities said. Three people were pulled from the river and taken to Skagit Valley Hospital and United General Hospital; two were reported to be in stable condition, the other had minor injuries and was being released Thursday night.
The survivor who was released was identified as Dan Sligh, 47. His wife, Sally Sligh, 56, remained in the hospital. The other injured person was reported to be a 20-year-old man.
Both the northbround and southbound lanes of the northern section of the bridge collapsed at about 7 p.m.
This section of I-5 runs between the Washington cities of Burlington and Mount Vernon.
When rescuers arrived, people were sitting on top of their submerged cars. The water is about 18 feet deep where the bridge collapse took place.
Gov. Jay Inslee headed to the scene to monitor the rescue efforts, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was monitoring the situation as well.
Inslee later told a news conference that repairing the bridge is “job No. 1″ and that it’s unknown how long it will take to replace the bridge. I-5 is a main north-south arterial for northwestern Washington state.He said he will authorize the Transportation Department to establish detour routes to minimize impact on traffic and commerce.
“Witnesses say a truck hit the bridge and caused it to collapse, but an investigation has been launched to confirm that,” Inslee said. “Any witnesses or people with information should contact the State Patrol.
“The National Transportation Safety Board is on their way tomorrow, and I’ve been in touch with our federal partners. We will be involved in a vigorous and diligent effort to get traffic flowing again through the Skagit bridge corridor and I will issue an emergency proclamation tomorrow to make sure we have the resources to do so as quickly as possible,” Inslee said.
Goskagit.com said one driver who had just crossed the bridge shortly before it collapsed told a reporter he felt a vibration and looked in his rear view mirror to see that the section of bridge he had just crossed was no longer behind him.
“I thought something was wrong with my car at first,” the man told the reporter about feeling the vibration.
The bridge was built in 1955, was inspected last November and it received passing grades, Treece said.
But wait Obama minions are saying this bridge collapse is because of Republicans cutting the budget.... Yeah lets build more useless walking paths with taxpayer money, roads and bridges falling down falling down falling down, roads and bridges falling down my fair OBAMA...
The parallel bridge is already very busy with local traffic so the preferred detour routes are well out of the view of that shot. The dropped bridge used to serve 70,000 vehicles a day. The surface streets around there are really busy so the traffic is being detoured to two different rural highways.
“You seem paranoid.”
Nope, I just pay attention.
I’m going to stick with paranoid, and a little psychotic to boot.
Wish I could put you on ignore too.
“Wish I could put you on ignore too.”
If you really wanted to then you’d start by...ignoring me.
Seems to me you have too much fun doing what you do. If it’s fine with FR then it’s fine with me, too.
Have a great day.
Megan
I can ignore you through will easy enough.
I just really don’t want to see your pointless posts anymore.
You have a great day too.
Chris
I would think the depth of the river was just about right to give some buoyancy. Surprised no one had a heart attack as it was happening.
I’m sorry I guess you do know the neighborhood but are not currently a neighbor. I thought you were saying Avon-Allen Rd (where I grew up) was not a big detour, that’s all. Good luck in NYC. I think it’s a fun place to be, at least it was a wonderful time in life for me in the 1980s. Loved it.
They had an interview of the guy that was driving with his wife in the car. Navy (ex?) guy. After they landed, the car is filling with water. He realizes his shoulder is out. So he shoves his shoulder back in place, and then unbuckles his wife and helps her get out!
Amazing! How few would have that presence of mind, but thankfully for him and his wife, all the Navy training kicked in.
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