Community remembers devastation felt after Key Bridge collapse: 'I was really shocked'
BALTIMORE -- It's a moment many will never forget: finding out the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed—something that seemed unimaginable.
"I woke up, and I was getting ready for work and I turned WJZ on because I watch in the morning." "I was really shocked. It was just a lot of emotions that came."
Danielle of Severn will never forget what she saw on TV that morning, and Nakia of Glen Burnie will never forget what she heard.
"My husband thought that it was a big truck accident or something," Nakia said.
It was only a couple of hours after Nakia had driven over the bridge herself. After she heard the sound, she got a text from her daughter, who is an EMT, saying the bridge collapsed, and she was responding to the scene.
"She sees a lot of things, and that was probably the only thing that really shook her up and had her very emotional for the first time. That was quite devastating for her," Nakia said.
The devastation was felt throughout the area, especially as the public learned of the six construction workers who were killed.
"It's really sad—that's the only emotion I can really say to express... just sad, like a traumatic event for Baltimore and all the surrounding area," Danielle said.
The construction workers were filling potholes on the Key Bridge when it was struck by a barge, and collapsed. So far, the bodies of four of the victims have been recovered, while two are still missing amid the wreckage in the Patapsco River.
There is now a growing memorial on Fort Armistead Road about a mile from the bridge to pay tribute to the victims. Nakia says it strikes a chord every time she drives by.
"Every time I see that, I just have so much empathy for the families, just imagining what their loved ones were going through at the time that that happened. It's kind of hard, you have a lot of empathy for what they're going through," Nakia said.
The bridge collapse has impacted day-to-day lives of many people in the area, but Nakia said the inconvenience she deals with is nothing compared to what the families must be going through.
