The weather was eerily similar to our conditions this week here in Upstate New York.  Heavy rains and local flooding were what we saw during the first week of April, 1987.

The rushing waters of the swollen Schoharie Creek near Fonda were too much for the NYS Thruway span that crossed the river.  The already eroded concrete piers holding up the bridge began to shift, collapsing a 400-foot section of the Thruway into the raging river below.  A tractor trailer and 2 cars on the bridge also plunged 70 feet into the water, killing 10 people.

Due to the fast-moving high waters of the creek, NYup.com reported that some of the victims bodies would not be recovered for weeks after the tragedy.  One body was not located until the summer of 1989.

The rebuilt bridge over the Schoharie Creek was opened 13 months after the original collapsed.

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