Last Tuesday, a section of the Bay Bridge that had been previously closed for repairs crashed down upon evening commuters but left the drivers mostly unhurt. In the interconnected greater Bay Area, transportation infrastructure is essential to many residents' daily routines.

With the high likelihood of a major earthquake in the next 30 years, this accident and the resulting chaos show that our infrastructure must be strengthened and maintained to enhance our community's ability to cope with an emergency situation.

Ominous statistics demonstrate our state's well-known vulnerability to natural disasters. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), there is a 62-percent probability of at least one quake of 6.7 magnitude or greater in the San Francisco Bay Area before 2032.

A 2008 USGS survey also indicates that there's a more than 99-percent chance that an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or higher will hit California in the next 30 years.

In the case of the bridge, strong winds and heavy traffic broke loose an earlier emergency repair to a damaged structural beam on the eastern side.

If the bridge can't even withstand high winds, it's likely that we could see a re-enactment of the damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake 20 years ago should another earthquake occur.

As is the case with many natural disasters, earthquakes can't reliably be predicted. Thus the only way to minimize the possible damages is to prepare for the worst.

The recent incident on the Bay Bridge highlights our need for disaster preparedness and especially the necessity to fix the state's broken infrastructure.

No matter how contentious Sacramento's budgeting process gets or what money woes California faces, disaster preparedness is too important an issue to ignore.

Tags: BAY BRIDGE, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION