Maryland state representatives on ‘Key’ bridge’s importance | Power Play with Vassy Kapelos

To get more on this unfolding situation I’m joined Now by Maryland State Delegate Robin Lewis and Maryland state senator Antonio Hayes hello to both of you thank you so much for making the time for us during what I can only imagine is a a really difficult time uh

Delegate leis I’ll start with you H how is the community doing right now I imagine as the search continues there’s still uh a lot of anxiety there is thank you so much for following this incredibly heartbreaking story um I represent the district in which at least one of the missing

Workmen lives in the neighborhood of Highland toown in my district district 46 in Maryland I want to commend everyone who’s responding all our First Responders I’m aware right now that the mayor’s office of immigrant Affairs is on the ground reaching out to affected families of of at least a few of these

Missing workmen and uh our hearts are going out we are doing all we can and so grateful for the partnership of President Biden Governor Wes Moore and uh and and all of our colleagues so thank you Senator Hayes can can you help Canadians watching tonight sort of

Situate us and this bridge and the significance of this piece of infrastructure to to the to the city and really the the state more largely no absolutely so and thank you so much for having us um I Echo the sentiments that my colleague delegate uh has expressed and you know

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families that are affected and all those that are involved including you know our First Responders um the bridge that we’re referring to is the Francis uh the Francis Key Scott Bridge uh we often refer to it as just the Key Bridge um

And Baltimore it actually extends from Baltimore City into Baltimore County it’s part of um I 695 and it’s a well-traveled um infrastructure here in Baltimore it’s iconic in that it’s probably one of the only you know bridges suspension bridges um here in the region I I I understand from

Listening to news reports is probably one of the larges um in a nation but often you know it connects two communities across the B body of water extending from Baltimore City into the dond area right in the surrounding County um is is where the Key Bridge is situated here in the

City delegate Lewis we heard various officials in the morning say that there didn’t appear to be any CR credible evidence this was something other than an accident or that there was any terrorism involved I imagine that that you’ve been brief throughout the day on what investigators have been able to

Surmise about the cause what what can you share with us about what you know well I probably know what you know um according to President Biden in the most recent um updates we’ve received there’s no evidence of any any unted uh activity this does in fact seem to have been an accident the

Ship in question lost electric power and thank goodness sent out a Mayday call before the crash which allowed First Responders to get the message out to close down the bridge had that not happened the casualties and and uh you know hard would have been much worse we

Are waiting for word on I believe it’s six missing workmen um and as my good colleague Senator Hayes mentioned this bridge it’s not just something that connects to important communities it sits on the on on on the Patapsco RI river which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay which I’m sure your uh viewers in

Canada are aware of it’s the biggest Estuary on the planet and the route of the bridge follows one of the most important north south routes for moving people and goods on the entire North American continent so the impact of the of this accident it’s going to be

Felt not just in Baltimore City and Baltimore County our neighboring jurisdiction it’s going to be felt all along the east coast and across our continent we are just heartbroken devastated the idea of something like this happening unconscionable but we are prepared and standing firm and together working to respond and fix

Fix what what we can as quickly as we can very grateful to President Biden for his commitment to rebuild this bridge thank you and he has said that that uh he said earlier today that it would be all uh Federal money that that would reconstruct the bridge Senator Hayes

Could you speak to the significance of of that artery the amounts of as your colleague referenced uh goods and and people that that go through it just on a daily basis this will have a a pretty long-term impact I would guess yeah no absolutely the the Port of Baltimore

Itself is a tremendous resource um not just to Baltimore not just to the state of Maryland but throughout the world um it is my understanding that the port exports 25% of the world’s coal um and so having this bridge which um you know has essentially uh shut down the port

Baltimore from operations is pretty significant um the port annually do about 52.3 million tons in foreign cargo about 80.8 billion dollar uh uh in foreign cargo value um and then another 11.7 million tons of General cargo and you know all up and down the East Coast

All around the world I believe you know from from some of the reports that we heard earlier this particular ship was in route um to Singapore I believe and and so it’s it’s it’s devastating to the community but I will tell you um baltimoreans and Maryland are you know

Resilient people even you know tonight our faith community has come together in a really strong way of all denominations and rallying um in a prayer vigil for all of those that are have been affected by this very tragic event I’ll leave it at that I I appreciate both of you making the time

For the conversation thank you so much to Senator Hayes and delegate Lewis our thoughts are certainly with uh you and everyone in your community thank you thank you thank you

Maryland state representatives detail the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s significance in connecting neighbouring communities in Baltimore.

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