The Timeshare Beat
September 11, 2001
HONOLULU, HI -- In the most shocking and devastating attack against the USA since Pearl Harbor, terrorists today
flew hijacked air liners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Both towers subsequently
collapsed into the streets of Manhattan.
According to a World Trade Center official approximately 10,000 people worked in each of the towers, and about
5,000 tourists visit each day. The destruction took place during a time of the morning when most workers were already
in place in the building, and the death and injury toll is expected to be immense.
Less than an hour after that attack, the Pentagon took a devastating hit from an airplane that collapsed one side of the 5-sided building. Shortly after the Pentagon attack, a car bomb reportedly went off outside the State Department in Washington. The White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol were evacuated along with other federal buildings in Washington and New York. All monuments have been closed.
President Bush was in Sarasota, FL at the time of the attacks. The First Lady was in Washington D.C. and was quickly whisked away to a place of safety. After brief remarks condeming the attacks, the President left Florida. He later gave a short address to the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
An additional plane crashed southeast of Pittsburgh, PA, though it was not immediately apparent if this was connected to the coordinated series of attacks on the nation.
In all, four commercial airliners were involved in the attack. More than 250 passengers and crew members on the four hijacked airplanes were believed to have died.
CBS News identified four commercial flights that it said were highjacked and crashed:
Within a few hours, every commercial plane within the borders of the USA was grounded and for the first time in the nation's history, there was not a single commercial plane in the air above the country.
Following the attacks, the USA assumed what is basically a war footing. The borders with Canada and Mexico were closed; airports across the nation were closed and evacuated; Federal and State buildings were closed; military bases across the globe were put on full alert. Extra security was added at the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons and research complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., home to the Army's main germ warfare defense laboratory.
In New York City, local elections were postponed; airports were closed; trading on Wall Street was suspended.
The United Nations building and offices throughout Manhattan were closed and evacuated. Subway lines citywide were
initially shut down and both Grand Central Station and Penn Station closed, with commuter trains running only out
of Manhattan to evacuate. Lower Manhattan was closed to all but emergency vehicles; bridges and tunnels into Manhattan
were closed; and Rockefeller Center property managers urged tenants to go home.
In Florida, Disney closed and evacuated its theme parks in Orlando, FL and was evaluating whether or not to take similar actions in its international parks. SeaWorld and Universal Studios were also closed. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida was also put on heightened alert, with only essential personnel remaining on the grounds.
In Las Vegas, NV, the Stratosphere Tower was closed and evacuated; Hoover Dam was closed to traffic; and Nellis Air Force Base was closed to all but military personnel.
In Honolulu, the busy airport was evacuated and air traffic was halted, with military fighter jets assigned the duty of escorting all incoming flights to the state. The Honolulu airport is somewhat unique in that it serves as both the public and the military airport. In addition, Federal and State buildings were closed; Pearl Harbor was closed to the public; schools on military bases across the state were closed. Even the state's largest mall, Ala Moana Shopping Center, was closed as a precaution.
Some commercial flights that had been headed to various mainland USA airports were redirected to the Honolulu airport.
In Louisiana, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles supertankers in the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans, suspended operations and petrochemical and oil pipeline operators were on extra alert. Refineries in that state and nearby Alabama were put on alert.
In Virginia, authorities ordered extra security at the naval complex in Hampton Roads and imposed a lockdown of offices at the state Capitol.
In addition to Disneyland closing in southern California, Knotts Berry Farm and other tourist attractions were closed along with the city's 74-story Library Tower, at 1,700 feet the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. State and Federal office buildings were also closed and employees sent home.
Navy installations throughout Hampton Roads in Virginia, home of the world's largest Navy base, were placed under an increased security condition. The 192nd Virginia Air National Guard 192nd fighter squadron, an attack unit of fully armed F-16 fighter jets that will patrol the nation's East Coast, were put on alert with orders to down any unauthorized aircraft.