BALTIMORE — Everyone, it seems, has a story about the Key Bridge: neighbors, community members, and local leaders.
Maybe they drove over it for work. Maybe they saw it go up in the '70s or used it to get to family in Anne Arundel or Baltimore County. Images of its devastation were never what they thought they'd see on the news.
On Wednesday, the Baltimore Mayor saw the bridge's wreckage up close aboard a Coast Guard vessel with state and local leaders.
"Seeing the devastation that close up just made it even more real," Mayor Brandon Scott told WMAR Wednesday afternoon.
"It's really heart-wrenching to see," Scott continued. "We also saw, while we were out there in the pouring rain, our divers, our workers out there trying to recover the bodies of the folks that we lost."
The mayor also said every level of government has had a chance to reach out to the families of the victims. And for those victims, he says the city is here.
"It's also about what happens in the long-term," Scott said. "When the cameras are all gone, local government will be there to support these family members. That might mean some family member calls in six, seven, eight months, a year, or two years and says, 'Hey, I need to change jobs in order to provide better for the family. Can you guys help me?' Or whatever they may need, and it might just be a conversation. We're going to be there every step of the way."
To all of us in, or close to, Baltimore, the mayor reminded folks that this will mean an increase in traffic and that trucks with hazardous materials can take alternate routes. He's asking for patience and for folks to adjust and alleviate the traffic burden.
"We're Baltimore, we're strong, we will recover, and we will recover together and come back stronger than ever," Scott concluded.
Seeing the wreckage on the news is one thing. Seeing it in person is another thing entirely. Some folks ventured off to nearby parks with a view of what used to be the bridge.
"Crazy, surreal, heartbreaking," Isaiah Ward, a Pasadena neighbor, reacted after seeing the bridge's wreckage from a distance.
As for Mayor Scott, he tells WMAR he will be right back at the scene on Thursday morning, in it for the long haul.
