Collapsed bridge traps driver, snarls traffic between California and Arizona

A storm battering Southern California caused severe flooding across the region, as well as a bridge collapse on Interstate 10 in Desert Center, about 70 miles east of Palm Springs.

A truck driving on the freeway was on the bridge when it collapsed, eyewitness Pamala Browne told The Desert Sun. Firefighters were called at around 4:45 p.m., and the driver was pulled out of the vehicle at close to 7 p.m. Browne, who was driving from Flagstaff, Arizona, to Palm Desert, said it was pouring rain at the time of the collapse, and the Tex Wash underneath the bridge looked like a river. She also said an officer on the scene told drivers the section of freeway might not be open again for two days. The detour that has been set up is adding two-and-a-half hours to Browne's drive.

The bridge was built in 1967, The Desert Sun reports, and listed in the 2014 National Bridge Inventory as no longer adequate for its task.

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