Longshoremen devastated by Baltimore bridge collapse: 'No food can come in, no food can go out'

tomorrow marks 2 weeks since that devastating bridge collapse in Baltimore we remember those shocking images the Francis scoty Bridge hit headon by a cargo ship plummeting into the water killing six construction workers and knocking out the livelihoods of generations of residents of Baltimore who rely on that Harbor to get by in tonight's Prime Focus ABC's J Brian goes back to Baltimore to introduce us to the long shoreman and others in that City who are left shaken and uncertain about when they'll be able to return to work I've seen a lot of incidents that are large but nothing like this this is what you would classify as a precedent for the unprecedented I have never seen a massive Bridge close down a port Commander bill mckinstry has managed disasters for the United States Coast Guard for nearly 30 years but what the people of Baltimore are now facing is a first even for him we're going to go completely around the whole thing on the water the shear size of the task at hand for mckinstry and others becomes clear what was once the Francis Scott Key bridge is now thousands of tons of steel and concrete blocking most of Baltimore's Harbor off from the rest of the world the mission to cut up and clear all of this debris and bring Baltimore's Port back to life is extremely dangerous the difficulty that is surrounding that is immense because of the conditions of the water the divers uh you might have a foot of visibility to be able to see so it makes it very very treacherous Crews now in a race to remove the wreckage the Army Corps of Engineers setting an ambitious goal of clearing a channel for smaller cargo ships by late April and reopening the entire Port by the end of May I mean there are 8,000 jobs tied to this port absolutely and and the bottom line is is that's why we need to work as efficiently and as safely as possible the enormity of the task it's going to take a lot of time it's going to take some time time is something they don't have at local 953 one of three unions in Baltimore representing long shoremen most of them have already gone weeks without a paycheck and will stay out of work until cargo ships start coming and going again these are different ships that were in the Port of Baltimore we found Dave coning in the dispatch chair Fielding calls from long shoremen asking for their next day's assignments but openings are slim all day I tell them I have nothing for them you tell them I have nothing no employment there's nothing here some are still working on the little cargo that remains in Baltimore from before the bridge collapsed but that's nothing in comparison to the flurry of activity this port once was these are the guys assigned to that ship Dave showed us what a packed schedule of long shoreman's assignments used to look like this is what it looks like now one two three people a crisis says Union president Richard Krueger a third generation long shoreman who still makes his living at the Port families here are the water yes and that's it's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of families that have been like that how does it feel not to know when this crisis is going to end well just take take the people that I represent you got core payments house payments tuition payments you know you got to pay you got to get food well you wake up and all of a sudden they say you don't have a job you got guys they were going to have to go on unemployment yeah yeah naturally you got you're looking to survive to get through this but unemployment Krueger says barely covers the steady wages his long shoremen have built their lives with and he doesn't know how long many of his people can hold out it's the fear of the unknown we we don't know how long are they going to be off how long is it going to take them to open the channel how long do they have to uh get through this because they have to pay the bills and nobody knows the Port of Baltimore is the ninth largest by trading volume in the country new cars are one of its biggest Imports and it's Nick 's job to check the batteries of those cars before they're shipped to dealers across the country but with no new shipments coming in soon he fears he won't be needed so what's going through there now nothing nothing at all nothing's coming in nothing can go out I know sooner or later it's probably going to affect me that I'll probably get laid off until they get that channel clear some people they work they work week to week they're going to really be hurting we met Nick at Herman's Bakery in Dundalk Maryland a neighborhood in what was once the shadow of the Key Bridge like so many businesses here Herman's customers need the port to survive he used to sit in the window and owner Adrien porcella needs those customers to keep her business afloat I don't know how these people are going to survive the ones that work at Amazon that live across the bridge or the supplies coming in going to have an effect on your business too I hope not I really hope not um we're just going to keep working hard you know I mean that's all that's all we do we we work hard in the back head Baker Larry DeSantis personifies that hard work he usually arrives here at 1:45 in the morning commuting not from home but another Bakery job in Baltimore and for the past 16 years to do that Larry took the Key Bridge so you were driving this yes Larry tells us on that Tuesday Morning in late March he was one of the last people to cross it before the dolly a cargo ship the size of the Eiffel Tower lost power and steering and collided headon with a pier of that bridge the ship's size delivering a force comparable to that of a rocket launch what was it like seeing that video yeah it was it makes me think you know I mean I'm I'm really lucky you're lucky to be alive no exactly no exactly I mean if I had been one minute later I wouldn't be here eight construction workers immigrants from Honduras Guatemala El Salvador and Mexico were filling potholes on the bridge when it fell two were rescued the bodies of three others have been recovered and three are still missing presumed dead Baltimore is now grieving their loss while the reality of living and working here without that bridge is starting to sink in just focus on that and then slightly to the left you'll see it this is the closest so many baltimoreans can now get to what was once described as a Cathedral of American architectural prowess pulling over on the side of the highway eyes squinting phones outstretched to try to catch a glimpse of what remains of the gateway to their City you're tearing I it's all why with Baltimore we weren't ready to see it it's different from seeing it on TV than seeing it in real life right even though we're far away still you still feel it back up close is where that feeling of loss meets the hard reality of a mammoth cleanup effort that has no real end in sight folks here tell us this is a community that has seen tough times before but they've always been able to pull through it with hard work work here is what makes all the difference and it's work that's where so many baltimoreans just want to return it's who we are it's what we do we we load and unload cargo vessels and we're proud of it we're stuck in the water here we can't move you're stuck in the water yeah yeah the truckers the the shippers the warehouse workers uh it's it's all of us we're all in the same boat with this all on the same boat there our thanks to J O'Brien for that hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

Channel: ABC News

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Keywords: abc, baltimore, bridge, collapse, devastating, live, longshoremen, news, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-109013100, prime, shaken

Id: YbFAPsCD5g4

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 09 2024