The effect of the softer yen in Tokyo pushed the Nikkei up 2.6% to 12283.62 on Friday, a seventh day of gains and its highest close since Sept. 10, 2008, just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the height of the global financial crisis.

WSJ: Investors Grab Japanese Shares

Other over-height vehicles struck the Skagit River bridge before the collapse on Thursday, she noted.

NPR: NTSB Says Wash. Bridge Collapse Is Wake-Up Call

At the height of the flood, engineers feared a bridge on the Pawtuxet was going to collapse, taking with it a nearby dam, which in turn could have taken out another dam.

ECONOMIST: Things were bad enough in Rhode Island. Then the rains came