I spent about 15 minutes in awe of the rising flood and amazed that The Bridge had performed so well.

Then I noticed that the tether cable on the near side of the bridge had pulled the entire pier away from the bank several inches.

No photos for the next 15 minutes as I rushed to get a rope onto the bridge in hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the cable.

I was winching the slack out of the rope when the creek suddenly took the entire pier, snapping the rope in the process. A few more seconds and I would have taken up the slack and believe that the rope would have held.

Instead, I watched helplessly as the little flotilla consisting of the near side of The Bridge, the connector piece, and the entire pier went roaring over Ruth's Waterfall and on down Gulf Creek. A neighbor 1/4 mile downstream saw it go by.