Originally published not here, but on Scoop.co.nz
Tuesday, 11 September 2001, 5:29 PM (EST) (part 2 was here)
It all seemed amazingly innocent at first.
What actually happened was that I looked out the window of our office on Wall St (about two blocks down and east from the WTC) and saw what looked like a ticker tape parade - hundreds of tiny pieces of paper, floating down out of the sky.
Seemed like an odd stunt for some PR company to play, and also the paper looked like trash, and some of it was burnt.
At that point we started to realise that something was very wrong.
We tried looking on the Internet, but the connection was not working at first (it was restored very soon afterward).
About then, we heard the second loud bang as the second plane impacted. Our client arrived for our 9AM meeting and we realised what had happened.
I wrote down my impressions at that time.. " a boom .. like maybe a train in the subway doing something very odd, or maybe thunder. "
This was about 9:10 am. After some discussion about whether to have the meeting or not we decided that we would instead go out and have a look.
We went and stood and looked at the horrific site - fortunately some distance away from the WTC. Not because of any sense of danger - the world trade towers are so big its always best to get a wee distance ...
>>>breaking news<<< As i write this we know that tower number 7 (much shorter than the main two) is on the verge of collapse - and looking out we see that the billowing cloud of smoke has changed colour again to white, so i guess we have lost number 7 as well. (you can see the photo of white smoke out of our window here in Brooklyn) >>>breaking news<<<
Most people were as you would expect, horrified, shocked and mostly sad. All across the pavement at this time there was a lot of charred paper, and reports, kids photos, charred brochures.
I saw one person pick up a photo of some kids and say 'wow, sick' (and keep the paper). But mostly people were very good and generally quiet. At that point we kinda figured that was gonna be everything, and for some reason headed back to work.
So, we were sitting in the middle of this meeting with the client and the whole building shook, *a lot* and a kinda 'whump'. At this point I looked across the table and said..' " uhh what the f**k was that ?"
Looking out the window, we saw huge billows of smoke coming out of the subway station, and people running down Wall St. At first we thought that there was a bomb on the subway, but then we saw a large cloud of smoke and dust (or something) rolling down Wall St, at some speed.
I learned from a (newly found) friend that I met on the Brooklyn bridge later on, that this was the only moment of real panic. As the first building collapsed, the sky went black as night and people ran in fear all the way to the river. Mostly however, throughout the day, New Yorkers have been very calm and orderly.
We met people on the bridge that had come out of the World Trade centre from the 55th floor and they were just fine. This gives me some hope. In fact there was a good hour between 8:48 am (when the first plane hit) and 10:05 (when the first building collapsed). So while there are no statistics for casualties at this point I believe that a very large percentage of the 10,000 or so people in the WTC would have been evacuated before the collapse.
Anyway, at this point we went along the corridor to another office that had TV news, and learned of the Pentagon plane, the car bomb at the State Department in Washington, and what at this point were apparently five more planes that were hijacked and in the air.
We were not sure whether to evacuate or stay inside the building. The smoke and dust outside was starting to clear and we contemplated evacuation when seeing the second building starting to lean over, we decided.. shit this is time to get out of here!! We were worried that the building might fall on us, and it seemed that Wall St might also be a target, so we stayed away from the window.
At this point my fellow worker was on the phone (all cell phones had stopped working) so I took the opportunity to stick our web cam out the window.
It is still there now, somewhat covered in dust, and you may be able to see the picture at : http://formtext.org (Note: since publishing this story it appears the web server there is being overloaded, or broken.)
With the collapse of the second building, exit was no longer an option.
Firefighters and police were apparently coming *in* to our building to catch their breath. The dust was definitely starting to get a bit thick in the air, we worried whether we would be able to breathe.
So in the end we waited, and finally we evacuated, taking my gym shirt for breathing through and a lot of water bottles from our stash (for giving to other people).
The whole bottom part of the island looked like a war zone by this stage, covered in a thick layer of dust, and bits of paper.
So we walked up the island. All subway services, train services, bridges and tunnels were closed. The plan was merely to get uptown and away from the financial area. As I say, people were very calm and collected.
I decided, after a while to part company with my office workers and head across the bridge.
Some of us had dust all over us, and some people had a bit of blood, but most people, like me, seemed generally fine and able bodied.
I exchanged a couple of war stories with people on the bridge.
Apparently, north of where the towers had been for many blocks, all the cars were burning and the smoke was still very thick.
at this point, (5pm, ie 7hrs later ) the NY fire brigade have decided that they can't get into that area to rescue people and have decided to abandon the area.
I also heard stories from people who were outside the building, that they saw body parts and filing cabinets (?) coming out of the building.
I heard, also, some disturbing stories that the dust might have been somehow infected with a biological agent or something. I dismissed this as panic type stories. At this point we were still mostly in shock, and I was pretty calm and collected really. Apparently there may well have been asbestos in the dust, so when we got home I did have a very vigorous shower.
Anyway, basically we made it back ok. I made friends as we crossed the bridge with a fellow Brooklyn Bridge escapee and now a new friend, Diane.
As soon as we got back, and I made phone contact with my wife (the phones are working, sporadically, but they are ok if you keep trying, even from NZ)
It was only at this point that things really started to hit. Paul Holmes interviewed me on the phone (somehow) and talking to him at this point, I started getting very emotional. I guess the reality was only then beginning to sink in.
Anyway after some hard scrubbing in the shower and stuff, we made a whole lot of sandwiches, and bought some paper cups and water, and cantaloupe, etc.
(brief break whilst I say good bye to Diane.. As I get back into the room, I find myself bawling again for some reason)
Anyway…
We made the sandwiches and walked to the Manhattan bridge where people were still walking across - evacuating from Manhattan, and gave them out to the people coming off the bridge.
We have photos of that evacuation, (at this point, some time later, the people walking out were all from uptown - ie away from the towers and generally in good spirits. Al I guess that might be photos under the title 'escape from Manhattan'
It was good to keep busy I guess.
So yeah, alive and very freaked out.
ENDS
