![]() The collision occurred in a section of the river near Webbers Falls, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of Oklahoma City. Today marks 18 years since the I-40 bridge collapsed southeast of Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. The dead included Oklahoma police detective Wayne Martin and two Texan horse trainers - Gail Shanahan and Maggie Green - whose truck and trailer carrying four horses plunged into the river.ĭivers are facing harsh conditions, with strong currents, bad visibility and the presence of metal shards from the bridge and vehicles.Įngineers say it may take six months to repair the bridge, which is part of the Interstate 40, a vital east-west link.īut river navigation is expected to re-start as soon as recovery operations are completed, as the remaining standing portions of the bridge have been found to be stable. Salvage crews have been using a sonar to locate vehicles in the water, after which a crane was used to hoist them out. ![]() So far the bodies of seven women and six men have been lifted from the river. Officials believe the crash occurred because the pilot of a towboat pushing the two barges was "incapacitated" before the accident, though he initially tested negative for drugs and alcohol. One of the key things Doucette remembers from his reporting was the importance of paying attention to those who manage infrastructure.ĭoucette saw parallels during the historic flooding in 2019 across the Arkansas River watershed and when barges collided with the Webbers Falls Dam.The final death toll is expected to be 17, officials said, but could be higher if more vehicles are found to be hidden under slabs of the collapsed bridge.įour people survived the incident, including two who were recovered from the water and two who were pulled from a vehicle stuck on the bridge. “It adds up for them.”ĭoucette said that Oklahoma officials are seeking to address the impact of trauma on first responders by increasing access to mental health resources. “The little, tiny, edgy feeling I had maybe for a year or two going back that way, cringing as you go across the bridge … that’s just a tiny, tiny fraction of what some other folks have to deal with on a daily basis,” he said. Emphasizing the importance of infrastructureĪfter the bridge was repaired, Doucette would cross I-40 when covering other stories and remember interacting with first responders following the tragedy. “They get a chance to talk about somebody that they love and know in a way that goes beyond what happened to them,” he said. “When you try to understand who these people are – and that often means calling their families, sometimes their friends, trying to get an idea of who they are as a person outside of the tragedy – that is a very helpful thing to the folks who are left behind.”ĭoucette added that this experience of sharing their loved one’s story can be cathartic for those who are grieving. If that’s as far as you go, it’s a little bit of a disservice. “Their identity gets trapped in what happened to them. “A lot of times, with these types of deals, they’re a name, a face, an age and where they are from,” he said. Along with examining the damage, he spent days in Webbers Falls, interviewing officials and emergency responders. Rather than simply stating the facts of someone’s life, the reporters worked to humanize each person through the stories of those who loved them, Doucette said. The aftermath of Webbers Falls bridge collapse The Oklahoman sent Doucette with a team of reporters to cover the aftermath of the tragedy. The Oklahoman’s coverage of the 14 people killed in the bridge collapse was informed by previous tragedies in the state: the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the tornado. They probably just rolled right up on it and had no idea what was happening until it was too late.” Remembering the victims of I-40 bridge disaster “They couldn’t really see what was happening,” Doucette said. ![]() Remembering the scene, he thought about the drivers, especially those who came upon the bridge shortly after the collapse. ![]() Along with examining the damage, he spent days in Webbers Falls, interviewing officials and emergency responders.ĭoucette described the scene as crowded and likely overwhelming with many first responders and journalists pouring into the town of less than a thousand people. The Oklahoman sent Doucette with a team of reporters to cover the aftermath of the tragedy. 'Very surreal, tragic time': ODOT spokeswoman remembers 2002 Webbers Falls bridge collapse The aftermath of Webbers Falls bridge collapse Remember them: Here are the names of those who died in 2002 bridge disaster in Webbers Falls Doucette, an editorial writer and columnist for the Tulsa World, was working for The Oklahoman in 2002 when a barge hit the Interstate 40 bridge, killing 14 people as cars, trucks and semis fell into the river. ![]()
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