By DIANTÉ MARIGNY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.
Port Isabel Fire Chief Jim Pigg joins fellow first responders during Monday’s ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Queen Isabella Causeway collapse. The annual observance honors the eight people who died, three survivors and all those affected by the tragedy.
Twenty-five years after the Queen Isabella Causeway collapsed into the Laguna Madre, the community gathered once again Monday to remember the eight people who lost their lives and honor those who survived one of the darkest days in the area’s history.
The City of Port Isabel hosted a remembrance ceremony Sept. 15 marking the 25th anniversary of the 2001 collapse. During the ceremony, memories and perspectives were shared by people who witnessed the tragedy and others whose lives were forever changed by it.
The collapse occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2001, when a barge struck a support column of the Queen Isabella Causeway, causing sections of the bridge to fall approximately 85 feet into the Laguna Madre.
Motorists traveling in the darkness were unable to see that portions of the roadway ahead of them were gone. Several vehicles plunged from the bridge into the water below.
Eight people were killed.
Monday’s ceremony remembered Robert “Bob” Harris, Hector Martinez Jr., “Harpoon” Barry Welch and Chelsea Welch, all of Port Isabel; Julio Mireles of Los Fresnos; Robin Leavell of Mercedes; Gaspar S. Hinojosa of Kingsville; and Stvan Francisco Rivas of Humble.
The ceremony also recognized the three people who survived the collapse: Rene Mata, Gustavo Morales and Bridgett Goza.
For the communities of Port Isabel and South Padre Island, the disaster extended far beyond the collapse itself.
The Queen Isabella Causeway was — and remains — the only roadway connecting South Padre Island with the mainland. Its closure effectively cut the Island off by road, forcing residents, workers and visitors to rely on temporary ferry service and boats while emergency repairs were made.
The bridge remained closed for nearly two months before reopening in November 2001. It was later renamed the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge in honor of those who died.
A quarter-century later, the tragedy remains deeply ingrained in the collective memory of the Laguna Madre community.
The City of Port Isabel holds a remembrance each year to commemorate those affected by the collapse. This year’s ceremony took on added significance as residents, survivors and those connected to the tragedy reflected on what happened 25 years ago.
City officials described Monday’s gathering as a ceremony centered on the memories and perspectives of those who were present and those affected by the disaster.
The annual observance serves not only to remember the eight lives lost, but also the survivors, first responders, families and community members whose lives were changed in the aftermath.
For Port Isabel and South Padre Island, the 25th anniversary also serves as a reminder of a tragedy that reshaped the Laguna Madre — and of the eight people whose names remain forever connected to the bridge.