story3611.xml

story3611.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

What follows is a note I sent to a friend in Singapore in response to an "Are you ok?" e-mail. I sent this note on the evening of Sept 11th. Several days later, I saved the note realizing I documented my experiences that day.

------------------------------

My Note To A Friend in Singapore

Thank you for your kind note. I'm fine, but today will most likely be the most memorable day of my life... but for all the wrong reasons. Going to work this morning, my Subway discharged all passengers about a quarter mile north of the Trade Center. The announcement simply said, "Due to an emergency, all passengers must discharge immediately". When I came up out of the Subway, I continued walking downtown. I noticed the flow of people was very much going against me. People quickly hurrying uptown with concerned looks on their faces. When I reached the Trade Center, I stopped to watch in horror as the first Tower was burning. There was black smoke billowing from what appeared to be a gapping hole in the North face of the tower. I noticed fire starting to spread around the perimeter of the tower. It had an impossible feeling... this couldn't be true. Other people standing around me were talking of a bomb. Another mentioned a plane hit the tower. That sounded ridiculous. I felt there was no way that was possible.

I continued to head downtown and moments later stopped about 2 blocks from the Towers. I saw several colleagues on the street and stopped to talk about the amazing scene we were witnessing. Moments later, as we continued to speak, we saw the second plane flying in a semicircle around the Towers. It never occurred to us that this was a moment of destiny. We watched in incredulous disbelief as the plane crashed into the south Tower with deafening thunder. A sound and a feeling that will be etched in my soul forever. Seeing the ball of flames shoot out the other side of the tower was horribly surreal. Like being in a 1970s disaster film. We watched in horror as we saw several people flying off the sides of the building to their deaths. I couldn't watch anymore.

Having no idea that the Trade Center would collapse, I made my way down to 55 Water St (the tip of Manhattan where I've been consulting). My client is on the 48th Floor of that building. While going up in the elevator, power was lost as the elevator first bounced and began to free fall. I thought the building was going down. My life truly passed before my eyes. I could only think of my family. I thought of 3 boys with no father. Luckily the elevator stabilized in a few seconds. It turns out, the building lost power when the first tower (8 blocks north) collapsed. When I made it back down to the street, I was caught in the throngs of people running away from the WTC. All hell had broken loose. I wasn't sure what to do, I but I knew I shouldn't stay where I was. I joined the masses of people in what seemed like an exodus from hell. Although it was a brilliantly sunny day, the sun was just not visible. The sky was covered with ash like debris. It became difficult to breathe. I took off my shirt and wrapped it around my face to act as a filter. I walked up the East side of Lower Manhattan trying to head north. I decided to make my way over to Broadway where I could continue to head up to Midtown. When I made it to the City Hall area (2 blocks from the Trade Center) , I felt a tremendous rumbling. The North Tower was collapsing. I saw the huge cloud of billowing debris turn onto Broadway by City Hall. I then was among the thousands of people running for their lives. People were screaming, people were crying.. The cloud shortly caught up with me and I was blanketed with debris. I was brought down to my knees. A woman who was running tripped over me and fell. Barely able to see, I crawled over to her and helped her up. We both stumbled forward trying to escape the cloud. After the cloud had somewhat dissipated, I sat down on the curb. I was in a state of shock and disbelief. I ultimately spit up the thick debris I had been inhaling. Nevertheless, I was a lucky one. I was still breathing.

As I continued north through the streets of Manhattan, I would occasionally stop by somebody that parked their car and had the radio turned up so those around them could listen. I couldn't help but look at the people and realize that they were a cross section of New York... from banker to bicycle delivery boy... from black to white, and everything in between. Only at moments like these do these people all come together. Very sad...

I finally made it back up to my apartment by foot at about 1:00pm. Soon after I took a shower to rid myself of debris. I couldn't help but notice small scraps of glass that had become lodged in my hair. Small pieces of the World Trade Center... washing down the drain... it was a day for that... I sat down in the shower? for the first time today, I cried...

So now, at about 5:30pm, from the windows of my apartment on W43rd St, I can clearly see the smoke continue to bellow up from where the Trade Center stood just hours earlier. I'm sick to my stomach... With my 25+ years of working in lower Manhattan, I've made so many contacts and friends. The likelihood of knowing people who died today is all too great. Waking up tomorrow and beginning to learn their fates will be a horrible thing.

I'll never forget this day. My heart is still pounding...

Warmest Regards,
Rob