The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday hit many residents hard.
As families awaited news about people who were missing after the collapse, residents described an emotional day for the community. Their thoughts were with the families as they mourned the loss of the bridge.
Priscilla Thompson had a view of the bridge from the windows of her home.
“My husband woke me up this morning and said, ‘Priscilla, the Key Bridge is gone.’ I couldn’t believe it. I’m heartbroken,” she said, beginning to cry.
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The view of the bridge was her favorite part of their home.
“This apartment is not much, but it had that steel,” Thompson said.
She’s part of the same ironworkers union that built the bridge.
“It’s the pride of Baltimore, that Key Bridge,” she said. “… As an ironworker, [I] appreciate that for the structure – the magnificent engineering and workmanship that went into that.”
The bridge of over a mile-and-a-half has been a major thoroughfare of Baltimore’s Beltway for almost 50 years.
“It’s like an old friend,” resident John Flansburg said. Every morning, no matter the weather, he stepped outside his home to look at the bridge.
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Flansburg said his heart was with the families of the people who were missing.
“I’ve just never really seen such devastation,” he said.
