Port Isabel photographer recalls collapse of Queen Isabella Causeway
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It’s a bridge that everyone has driven across to get to and from South Padre Island.
Friday marks the 22nd anniversary of a barge hitting the Queen Isabella Causeway, causing a large section of it to fall into the water.
Eight people died as a result of the collapse.
Valerie Bates, Port Isabel’s marketing director, said she worked as a freelance photographer at the time of the collapse. She was at the scene, documenting the aftermath.
“Seeing the car there that they had managed to pull up and then strap to the piling was a very visual reminder of the impact of that event,” Bates said.
It’s an impact that would make life different for everyone living in Port Isabel and in South Padre Island.
“Certain utilities were out on the island because the bridge is what delivers them water and things like that,” Bates recalled. “Everybody's trying to be on their cell phones to try to find people. It was the early, early days of trying to figure out how to communicate without the instant connection with Facebook and other social media."
Bates says people who lived on the island had to take a ferry back and forth every day until the bridge was rebuilt.
Reconstruction took about 50 days.
Bates said she also documented the reconstruction, and reopening, of the bridge.
“So much like the bridge scars and heals,” Bates said. “We do too."
Watch the video above for the full story.
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