MINNEAPOLIS¡ªShortly after Mayor R.T. Rybak was elected, the Sept. 11 attacks led him to join federal officials for training sessions that would help him if he had to handle a local disaster.
That disaster came Wednesday, when a bridge spanning the Mississippi River buckled and collapsed. By Thursday afternoon, at least four people were confirmed dead, 79 were injured and dozens were missing.

The biggest crisis the 51-year-old mayor had handled to date during his time in office was the demotion of the fire chief after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment.

That wasn't evident Thursday as Rybak spoke to reporters and officials. As crews searched the Mississippi River for submerged vehicles and bodies, Rybak sprung to work preparing for investigations and the construction of a new I-35W bridge along one of the city's busies thoroughfares.

"We can never be prepared for something as horrendous as this," he said, but praised rescue workers for their heroics, saying they showed "tremendous courage and compassion at a time when we need huge doses of both."

The post-Sept. 11 training "was the backbone of the training we put into place immediately," at City Hall, Rybak said at a morning news conference. That enabled the city to respond quickly to the disaster, he said.

A former Twin Cities newspaper reporter and community activist, Rybak has developed a reputation as a high-energy, fit and environmentally conscious mayor, a

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polished spokesman for his green and progressive city.
Neal St. Anthony, a business columnist for the Star Tribune who worked with Rybak at the paper, said the mayor will fare well managing the crisis because he "cares very much for the city."

"He'll deal with this situation exceptionally well because he connects well with people," he said.

Hours after the bridge collapse, Rybak visited a makeshift Red Cross center at a hotel overlooking the river, where he consoled a handful of family members who feared the worst for relatives who had likely taken the bridge route that night but hadn't been heard from.

When he emerged from meetings, his eyes reddened and sleeves rolled up, he reminded people that the tragedy was ultimately about people.

"I think over the next few days, our focus will turn from statistics and numbers to the unfortunate horrible human stories that will be unfolding," Rybak said.

He asked the public for "sustained compassion," saying, "it is really about families that are now only beginning to understand the depth of what it means to have a loved one who is no longer here or to have a loved one whose whereabouts we don't know about."