Minnesota Tragedy: Lessons Learned

The collapse of an I-35W bridge into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Wednesday night struck close to home for my family.

Two of my children attended the University of Minnesota, very close to that bridge. Another one lives in a nearby suburb. They and I drove over it countless times in the 1990s.  And I sometimes used it to get to and from my job at the now-defunct All News Channel.  Like everyone else, we never gave a thought to the safety of the structure.  It was just one of the dozens of highway bridges and overpasses we all use daily, assuming they (and we) are safe.

That’s why this story struck a chord with so many people.  Like the stories about airline disasters, we know that it could just as easily have happened to us.

Stories like these raise a little alarm bell inside us, making us a little less certain about things we had previously taken for granted:  “If that bridge can collapse with no warning, why not the one I drive over (or under) every day?”  We need reassurance.

That’s why it’s so important for public officials to offer as much factual information as quickly as possible after a disaster.  In the Minnesota bridge collapse, Homeland Security and local police dismissed the possibility of a terrorist attack almost immediately.  And for good reason.  Mass panic and fear would only make the disaster worse.

And transportation officials were quick to release the results of recent bridge inspections, noting that the design of this particular span was unusual.  The underlying message: this probably won’t happen elsewhere.

As usual with such incidents, there was a lot of incorrect information released in the early going. Officials had to revise the death toll, correct estimates about the number of vehicles involved and clarify statements about the construction work going on.  That’s okay.  No one expects them to get everything absolutely correct in the first few hours.  Unfortunately, too many public officials in these kinds of situations refuse to say anything until they’ve got it all checked and double-checked.  That can be counterproductive because it leads the public and the media to rumors and speculation that can be very damaging.

Obviously the first and most important job for public officials in a disaster is to rescue victims and make sure no one else gets hurt.  But after that, calming fear and reassuring citizens should be high on the priority list. 

Almost all government agencies have a disaster plan that includes procedures for releasing information to the public.  Businesses and non-profit agencies should also consider having a formal plan so that they are prepared if something like this happens. The plan should spell out exactly who is responsible for releasing information and specify when and how. And while it should require verification of facts, it should also include some flexibility so that you can release partial information if necessary.

Because it’s vital that people know you’re in control and everything will be okay. It’s an important lesson we all learned from 9/11 and will never forget.