bridge under troubled water

today should be a perfect summer minnesota night by most standards. clear, the air finally dehumidified after the sauna of the daylight, even kind of quiet and breezy. but tonight is a sad night, the breeze punctuated with sounds of sirens in all directions—the disaster noise.
tonight, as many of you have already heard, a freeway bridge collapsed into the mighty mississip, loaded down with cars during our ridiculous otherwise-completely-normal rush hour. at 6:05, from what i understand, those on the 35W bridge, bumper to bumper, likely cursing their standstill and the crap DJs play on the radio, felt a rumble not unlike an earthquake, and then suddenly the world as they knew it fell away, plunging them into the river like so many matchbox cars.
my first thought wasn't terrorists although i'm seeing that bandied about on cable channels. my first thought was that it was simply a mistake. i was at target with william, picking up groceries before we headed over to my parents' house to pick up molly. suddenly i got several voicemails at once. my phone kept dying as i tried to check them. i figured it was the reception at the target. finally i heard my mom's message, which had that trademark eileen concern--the voice that i can't bear hearing after my dad's sickness, because it means something really bad happened. i called her back immediately, and luckily got through. she of course was checking my location--panicked taht i hadn't answered the phone. we're all ok--my whole family.
in a way, this feels like the earthquake in california where the infamous bridge collapsed (i think during the world series?). it feels like any other natural disaster, calling into mind 9/11 (but not the terrorist thing, nor the far-reaching effects). just wanting to keep friends and family close, making sure everyone's all right, amid sirens and terrible cell phone reception (the emergency vehicles and everyone's frantic calling tied the system up).
my cousin in ohio (hey lyn!) actually called my mom to tell her--she saw it on CNN before my mom realized that something had happened.
at least six are dead. many more are hurt. some seriously. there are at least fifty cars in the river. a schoolbus full of children are OK. they walked away. not everyone was so lucky. my coworker called me to make sure i was ok. she had heard from others (who all use that bridge every day of their lives). i don't. but i'll think twice when i cross another one.
it will be a long time before we return to normal--when we find out who we've lost, who we've hurt, and how we're going to get to work.
i was standing in line at target when the bridge in minneapolis collapsed. like any other day. but like another disastrous day in our too-near history, i won't soon forget where i was when it happened.