Storm Runoff Speeds Mississippi Flow, Hampers Navy Divers At Bridge Collapse Site

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Divers' operations to find five people still missing since the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge were hampered Saturday because heavy rain had strengthened the current in the

Saturday, August 11th 2007, 5:13 pm

By: News On 6

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Divers' operations to find five people still missing since the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge were hampered Saturday because heavy rain had strengthened the current in the Mississippi River.

Overnight thunderstorms dropped as much as 2 inches of rain on the region, making the river dangerous for divers around the twisted bridge wreckage, a Navy spokesman said.

They were back in the water by 11 a.m., but coordinators had a wary eye on the skies, with more storms possible later in the day.

``If they feel they're not safe anymore or conditions change, they'll stop again,'' said Randy Mitchell, an Army spokesman working with the Navy team. If conditions hold, he said divers would probably work until 8 to 10 p.m.

``We will go back in after the divers have assessed that it's safe enough to go back in,'' said Navy spokesman Dave Nagle.

The delay came after a two-day period in which the military divers recovered three bodies. That brought the confirmed death toll to eight, and reduced the list of known missing to five.

Family and friends gathered Saturday for a double funeral for a mother and daughter killed in the collapse. The bodies of Sadiya Sahal, 23, and 22-month-old Hana, of St. Paul, were among the three recovered Thursday and Friday.

Sadiya Sahal, who was five months pregnant, had her daughter in the back seat of her car as they sat in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the bridge. She had been on the way to pick up a friend who needed a ride to work.

Sahal was a nursing student who emigrated to Minneapolis from Somalia in 2000, and graduated from the city's Washburn High School. She became a U.S. citizen last year.

Omar Jamal, a leader of Minnesota's Somali community acting as spokesman for the Sahals, said Mohamed Sahal was still devastated by the loss of his family but that he felt deep gratitude to divers and others for the search.

``There is a huge relief to bring this into closure,'' Jamal said.

Mother and daughter were to be buried side by side at a suburban Muslim cemetery, Jamal said.

Other families are still waiting for word on their loved ones.

Lisa Jolstad's husband, Greg Jolstad, was a member of the construction crew doing renovation work on the bridge when it collapsed.

``My biggest fear is that he's going to be the last one, and they're going to give up before they find him,'' Jolstad said from her home in Mora, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis. ``It's really hard when there's no news _ I can't even think about anything else.''

Jolstad said she was spending Saturday with her husband's brothers and sisters, cleaning out the 1910 farmhouse where Greg Jolstad was raised and where he had continued to live with Lisa and her children, for whom Greg had been stepfather since 1995.

``We're just trying to keep busy,'' Jolstad said.

About 100 people were injured in the collapse, but fewer than 10 remained hospitalized, their conditions ranging from serious to good.