![]() ![]() ![]() “I don’t think he found them,” Cole said with a chuckle. ![]() His dad dove to the river bottom over and over searching fruitlessly. He recalls one fishing trip where his father’s keys slipped from his pocket and into the water. Cole said the current didn’t use to be so strong. And he grew up fishing for catfish here with his father, who would paddle an old rowboat out into the river to set up trout lines. He and some friends water-skied here after graduating from high school. You just always wish there was something you could have done.”Ĭole knew this stretch of the river well. And the water was swift, it was really moving. In the distance, a light blue trunk of a car bobbed in the current. Cole scanned the water for anyone he could help. The dozens of boats he’d seen on the water that morning were down to just a few. Cole grabbed his radio and a cellphone, climbed into his Jeep and took off toward the Arkansas River.Ĭole maneuvered the vehicle down to the river’s edge and climbed out.īy then, the scene was eerily silent. The screeching was the sound of feet stomping on brake pedals, tires grinding across asphalt as drivers attempted to stop short of the newly-opened abyss.Ĭole’s boss, Paul Gould, hopped in the plane and took to the skies to survey the damage. It only took seconds for everything to change.Ĭole quickly learned that the “bang” was the sound of a barge hitting the Interstate 40 bridge, causing nearly 600 feet of roadway to collapse into the river. Related: How this Oklahoma reporter navigated tragedy and uncertainty to cover I-40 bridge disaster 'I was shocked': First trooper to arrive at Webbers Falls bridge disaster recalls scene He saw scores of fishing boat lights twinkling in the darkness and thought of the floating paper lanterns he once saw in Germany. He’d driven to work that morning on the U.S. 64 bridge north of where Interstate 40 crosses the Arkansas River. ![]()
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