Disasters

Many state agencies are contributing to the rescue and recovery effort. Here is a concise listing of each agency's efforts.

While the cause of the I-35W bridge collapse is unknown at this time, facts and background information on the bridge are coming to light.

While the search for the missing and unaccounted for victims of the I-35W bridge collapse, key legislators start the debate about how best to support the state as it moves forward in the recovery phase.

Late Wednesday night emergency response officials switched their approach to the bridge collapse from rescuing survivors to recovering the dead. But Thursday's experience suggests the recovery will be extremely slow.

A former National Safety Transportation Board official and a structural engineer join Midmorning to talk about the investigation process into the bridge collapse, and what's been learned from past bridge failures.

Transportation officials across the state say they work hard to ensure Minnesota bridges are safe. But some county engineers say the state is falling behind in repairing and replacing old bridges, many that date back to the 1930s.

The summer of 2006 was a drought disaster in South Dakota. This year, Minnesota farmers in some counties face the same dilemma. As officials in Washington D.C. decide whether to offer emergency disaster loans to farmers, how did South Dakota ranchers fare last year?

First responder and firefighter Curt Mackey talks about the photos he captured during the early hours of the I-35w bridge rescue and recovery effort.

Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River was "structurally deficient," yet they relied on patchwork repairs and stepped-up inspections that unraveled amid a thunderous plunge of concrete and automobiles.

Area hospitals may have seen the last of the injured survivors. Rescue teams said most of the injured were brought in within an hour of the collapse. Dozens of worried relatives are searching for the missing.