RickM

This is totally legit, from someone who was working 1 block from the WTC when the planes hit. Just thought I'd share it, since it gives a personal perspective that the news doesn't. It was written Tuesday night.


>
>Sorry for the email, but I've been on the phone since I got home a little
>after 3PM. I'm shaken but OK. My family and all my friends and coworkers
>are ok too. It feels so surreal. On one hand, it seems like I'm just
>watching a horrific movie. And then I remember that I was actually part of
>what's been happening, although this morning seems like it was almost 10
>days ago. I'm tired of repeating my story, but I still feel the need to do
>so. So FYI, here's what I went through (warning, it's long, read what you
>feellike reading...sorry for the length...):
>
>Beautiful clear morning. About 8:45AM - I was on my computer at work, one
>block (which is a parking lot and a small 3-story building) south of the
>WTCenter. I heard and felt what I immediately assumed was a jet plane
>flying right by the office and I remember saying out loud, "wow, that was
>flying really close." About 5 seconds later, I heard and felt an
>explosion.
>"Holy ****, what the hell was that!?" As I looked out of my window, which
>looks west towards Jersey, I saw tons of large pieces of metal debris and
>tons of paper, looking like confetti, just flying and raining down all over
>the place. As my coworkers joined me looking out the window, we noticed
>flames and a thick plume of smoke reflecting off of the windows in the
>building immediately west of us. We ran to the northern end of the office,
>which looks north above the parking lot right at the WTC...flames, smoke,
>papers flying all over the place, some bodies on the ground, people running
>out of the building. The radio says a plane hit the tower. We're then
>told
>over the PA to evacuate the building...as I shut down my computer, I spoke
>to my dad, who was just about to evacuate his building about 10 blocks
>north
>of the WTC. As my entire floor is waiting for the elevator, we hear and
>feel another explosion. We all run down the stairs.
>
>We exited the building on the west side and headed south towards Battery
>Park, away from the WTC. Tons of people were walking in this direction.
>As
>we walked, police tell us to hurry up. We passed huge metallic chunks,
>shattered glass, stopped cars (some of which had been hit by debris) and
>several white sheets/tarps covering bodies and body parts. The tarps did
>not always hide the mangled flesh. A coworker said he saw pieces of
>landing
>gear. People were worried and panicked, but still were walking relatively
>calmly south. Everyone was trying everyone else's cell phone but none
>worked. At this point, I still thought this was some horrific but
>accidental collision. People on the street started telling us that they
>were evacuated after the first explosion and actually saw a second jet head
>straight on and hit the second tower. The reality of a terrorist attack
>starts to sink in. For about 30 minutes, we stood about 6 or 7 blocks
>south
>of the WTC, staring unbelievably at the flames, smoke and debris as more
>and
>more people were heading our way. My office building looked unscathed.
>
>At this point, I decided it would be better to continue walking - I wanted
>to walk to the east side of Manhattan and then start walking north away
>from
>the WTC. Some of my coworkers at this point decided go take the Staten
>Island ferry. I had looped around the Battery to the east side of Lower
>Manhattan with relative ease. People were everywhere, but things were
>orderly. I was near Wall Street, several blocks southeast of the WTC. And
>then out of nowhere, someone yelled something like "the tower's falling,'
>or
>"she's coming down," and everyone just started running like madmen as far
>east away from the WTC as possible. When I hit the East River, I started
>heading north, but after about a block, there was a stampede of people
>running south in my direction. Before I could turn around, I saw about 2
>blocks ahead of me this thick plume of gray smoke, dust and debris blow
>east - kinda like in the movies when the hero is in a tunnel trying to run
>faster than the explosion just behind him. As I ran south, I turned east
>again to go onto a pier that jutted out into the river at least a couple of
>hundred feet. I figured this is as far as I could get if the WTC was to
>actually fall in my direction, and if I had to, I could jump into the
>River.
>I heard people talking - one of the towers had now officially collapsed.
>As it became harder and harder to see, and slowly harder to breath, I just
>sat down thinking this is where, if necessary, I would make my final stand,
>especially if the WTC fell another office towers, causing a domino effect.
>A floating medical boat of some sort was docked at the pier and started
>tossing out those breathing masks doctors ware in the OR. Again, all the
>people around me were clearly worried, but not unruly. I wound up just
>sitting and waiting for at least a half hour, although I'm guessing it was
>more.
>
>Just as the smoke and dust started to clear, I noticed another thick cloud
>-
>this one just plain black and looking even more ominous than the last one I
>saw - slowly creeping towards us from the south a couple of blocks away. I
>ran off the pier to the street and started walking north along the river,
>walking through what looked like was inches of dirty snow, or dust from a
>volcanic eruption. I heard from the masses of people walking with me that
>that was the second tower collapsing. I lucked out that I missed the brunt
>of the black cloud.
>
>With thousands upon thousands of horrified people, I just kept walking
>north. Sirens everywhere. People crying. Police all over the place. No
>cell phone service. Everyone still walking fast but orderly. Businesses
>giving out free water. People handing out cloths and t-shirts to put over
>your mouth. People from the nearby projects handing out cups of water.
>Stores and stranded cars blasting the news radio. Lines at every pay
>phone.
>Streets generally void of cars but mobbed with people, all walking north
>away from the dark gray smoke that marked the location of the former WTC.
>Still not fully understanding what happened and not knowing of the other
>planes and terrorist activities.
>
>I walked about 5 or 6 miles to Midtown, where the stream of people just
>kept
>on getting larger. I couldn't find a phone that worked until about 11:30
>or
>12 noon. I was the last of my family and the last in my circle of friends
>to check in. I sat and pretty much zoned out for about an hour, just
>watching people go by. No bus or subway service into Queens. I had to
>walk
>over the Queensborough bridge. Walked another 3 miles or so before I
>finally got home, at around 3PM. Spoke on the phone like crazy. By
>8PM, I realized that other than a handful of Cheerios, I had nothing to eat
>today. After dinner, made some more phone calls. Hard to tell, but from
>some of the news images, looks like my office building caught fire.
>Mentally, physically and emotionally tired...blisters on my feet are my
>worst ailment...not ready for sleep yet..


No comments from me needed!

Boba Fett

Scary stuff. Anyone notice that b/f she evacuated she shut down her computer? Just run!