Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after being hit by a container ship

how many would you be happy with for a mass casualty event?

Looks like a malfunction as the bridge was closed and it was emergency vehicles that were on the bridge. - you can see them stopped with flashing beacons in the stream coverage just as the ship hits.

Changing course on a ship with no power, do you think the captain should have used prayer and/or magic?

Power seems to fail twice in the few minutes as the ship approaches the bridge (lights go out). Given the rudder on that ship is presumably the size of a small building, the movement is electrically or hydraulically assisted. So it needs power to work.

Also the ship then seems to steer towards the span between the two power failures which would suggest the rudder might have gotten jammed anyway.

And the bridge will need to be rebuilt from scratch after all that cleared

If you look at the track on Marine traffic you can see it drifting to starboard as it approaches the bridge, it also slows a bit, so the theory of it losing power is plausible.

Ah would you lay off. No one is saying it's not a tragedy. When I heard read mass casualty I was thinking a lot more than twenty.

As you said "happy" isn't really the term. Lets go with satisfies the definition.

According to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482373/ a mass casualty incident is: "A mass casualty incident (MCI) is an incident where the number of patients exceeds the amount of healthcare resources available. This number varies widely across the country, but is typically greater than 10 patients."

So to be honest I was looking at it in terms of deaths but that's not that it is, I wouldn't have thought a cities medical services wouldn't be able to handle the numbers involved. Having said that it's not twenty injuries presenting to a hospital so given the added strain from the obvious logistical constraints it's another matter however that brings more than medical into it.

whoever looks at this story and focuses on whether it qualifies as a mass casualty event or not has underlying issues to resolve

Also the bridge cannot be 'repaired' (too dangerous apparently). It will need to be rebuilt from scratch - massive disruption to transport and trade in the region.

As others have said on the thread, anyone visiting the US and spending time there often notices the decaying infrastructure. It's bad in the east coast cities and worse in the mid-west.

We often joke about the US being a 3rd world country wearing a Gucci belt. It's perhaps not the best analogy, but incidents such as this one? Hammer home the disparity apparent that the richest country in the world and it's infrastructure seems to have.

From railway derailments, bridge collapses, many state & local govt funded roads & infrastructure creaking from age, & lack of maintenance. This latest collapse is a symptom of disjointed and chaotic funding and responsibilities.

On the topic of this collapse, yes it was initiated by the collision of a ship. Yet, no mitigation or protection was in place around the piers, and the piers in a busy shipping lane are an immediately obvious point of failure. I don't know what the weight of the ship involved was, but imagine 40000 tons moving at 8/9 knots impacting the pier of a cantilevered bridge is a recipe for disaster.

My thoughts are with the victims and I hope that if nothing else? This latest collapse focuses minds and funding on US infrastructure issues.