4 dead, 4 injured after crane collapsed on several cars in South Lake Union
I just saw this in my news feed. I used to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn next door when I traveled to Seattle for business and would drive through that intersection coming and going.
In some pics of the scene, the marina restaurant I used to get dinner at is in the background.
From the report I read, it seems wind may have been a factor.
All I’ve seen is the KIRO7 article. Up here, 115 miles north, it was rather windy today.
It happened at the site of a new Google building:
I used to work at a warehouse across the street from here back before Paul Allen started transforming the area. Debris from the crane or part of the crane itself would have landed in our parking lot, if it were still there. The Lincoln Towing lot was directly across from us at the time, below where the crane stood. And next to it, on Fairview, was a little dive where we used to eat lunch at sometimes. On Wednesdays, they used to have baked potatoes covered with slivered beef and a homemade barbecue sauce that I still long for, lo, these three decades later.
Checking out Google maps, the area is unrecognizable to me now. It also looks much, much better. Google has updated the view recently enough that you can see the crane that fell.
Sure feel sorry for the people who were injured or died. And their families and loved ones, too. Sigh.
There is a video of the collapse:
“Several witnesses reported experiencing high winds in the area at the time of the collapse. Observation sites near the incident also reported wind gusts of 18 to 23 mph.”
They are calling that “high winds”? :eek:
That’s extremely common in the spring.
It was far windier earlier in the day too, and most of the crane had been removed already. It is really bizarre. I presume that the ironworkers were prepping the next section (presumably the control “cabin”) for removal.
Complete conjecture on my part- I have to imagine that something got damaged or bent during the removal of the boom or weights.
I always have to remind myself, when I see something like that, that I live in a very windy part of the country. Around here that’s “gentle breeze”.
Even so, when you have something that tall and massive you have to take into consideration even the gentlest of air motions.
Komo news is reporting 35mph from a sensor a few blocks away at the Center for Wooden Boats. It says the other weather gauges aren’t as near to the site.
That still isn’t totally unusual. Just looking at historical weather from today:
The wind might have been a slight factor, but I’m guessing it was disassembly errors: