I have some people I know in New York...one had a friend who worked there...I guess on a lower floor..here is her story
Subject: I'm OK
I was at work when both plane hit the towers. We were told to evacuate.
Elevators were working. I did manage to call my kids from work \before I
left. We stayed briefly in the lobby, then walked to a McDonald's to use a
bathroom and the phones. My cell wouldn't work. I called my sister and she
let my family know I was out of the building.
My company had a plan to get to a "staging area," which was Battery Park.
The air was thick with smoke and debris, hard to breathe and to see. People
were giving out water. We were choking on the smoke, our eyes were burning
and we were covered with ash. We walked to the water's edge and suddenly
heard a loud noise. People started running toward the water. Everyone
thought it was another plane but we couldn't see anything, just that
terrible
noise. Suddenly the crowd turned and started running back towards where we
were. I knew I couldn't run and didn't want to get trampled and luckily I
was near a railing and I just held on. Then the thick black smoke enveloped
everyone. All I had was a tissue to cover my mouth and nose.
I had a Sony radio with me with headphones. The news announced that the
tower had collapsed and that the other one would probably do so. We passed
the information along to as many people as we could so when it happened they
would know not to think it was another plane and not to panic.
When it happened many people just walked into a rather large restaurant to
get away from the smoke and debris. There were lines to use the pay phones
since many people's cells were not working. Some people were staying on the
phone a little longer and the people in the lines were getting testy, but no
one paniced or fought. They just wanted to let their loved ones know they
were OK.
When it cleared we decided to venture out to see if we could find a way to
get home. As we walked everyone was the same color.... ashen gray. Cars
were covered with inches of it, walking was OK but it looked like a sandy
beach. When a car went by it raised clouds. Three of my friends lived on
Staten Island so they decided to wait and see if the Ferry was running.
My other friend was going to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get home. I
was afraid to get on a bridge but I couldn't let her go alone. I also
figured it would be easier for my family to pick me up in Brooklyn since all
the bridges and tunnels were closed and the subways were not working, and I
wasn't too keen on the safety of going underground anyway.
We walked towards the Seaport and saw some boats were taking on passengers.
One went to NJ and lucky for us, one was going to Brooklyn. We had a seat,
they gave out water and the ride took about 10 minutes. If we looked to the
left all we could see was darkness, like night had fallen. Looking to the
right it was so bright and beautiful. It was like two different worlds.
We found a phone and I called my sister to let her know I was OK and to pass
it on to my kids. Then we started walking. We walked about 2 miles looking
for a cab or car service. No cabs, and the car service had very long waiting
lines or had no cars available. We found a bus line that went close to my
friend's house, but no buses. We started walking again and a woman along the
way offered bottled water and a bathroom.
About two blocks away I did a lovely trip and landed on my hip, elbow,
shoulder and hand, bumping my head to finalize my graceful decline. Five
people picked me up. I scraped my elbow and hand. I was afraid I might have
broken my hip, but God was with me. We put water on my elbow and a lady gave
me some tissues. As we walked to the next block we saw a bus.
It was packed solid but there werr some people getting off. They were
letting us get on front and back doors and didn't have to pay. As I lifted
my tote bag, which was rather heavy, I felt the weakness in my hand and
shoulder. The hand was bruised and swollen. I also had pulled a groin
muscle. After a few stops and some people getting off we got seats. Bye
the time we got off, most of the people had gotten off.
We went to my friend's house and she immediately took a shower and said if I
wanted to take one to feel free. But I would have had to put the same
clothes back on, and I felt sure I'd be home before the day was over and
would do it then. I called my son and daughter and they were OK. Then I
called a friend who lives in Brooklyn to see if she could come and get me,
which she did. We went to her house and the plan was to have my daughter
come get me. Well, the parkway they needed to take was closed because it led
to the airport route. So I stayed over and they will come get me this
morning (I hope).
Now my cell is working and I found I had 10 messages from friends and family
and some email from friends like you. So now that this epistle is over I am
OK and hoping to get home soon. I will be in touch soon. I need my own bed
and some sleep to get over the emotional turmoil. Thank you for caring.
Love Ree
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>This was sent to me by my friend Rita Ambrose
who worked at the World Trade center. </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV id=IncrediOriginalMessage>-------Original Message-------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV id=receivestrings>
<DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt" From: RA100@aol.com</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt" Date: Wednesday,
September 12, 2001 10:56:01 AM</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt" To: Broyano@aol.com</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt" Subject: I'm
OK</DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>I was at work when both plane hit the towers. We were
told to evacuate.
Elevators were working. I did manage to call my kids
from work \before I
left. We stayed briefly in the lobby, then walked
to a McDonald's to use a
bathroom and the phones. My cell wouldn't
work. I called my sister and she
let my family know I was out of the
building.
My company had a plan to get to a "staging area," which
was Battery Park.
The air was thick with smoke and debris, hard to
breathe and to see. People
were giving out water. We were choking on
the smoke, our eyes were burning
and we were covered with ash. We
walked to the water's edge and suddenly
heard a loud noise. People
started running toward the water. Everyone
thought it was another
plane but we couldn't see anything, just that terrible
noise. Suddenly
the crowd turned and started running back towards where we
were. I
knew I couldn't run and didn't want to get trampled and luckily I
was
near a railing and I just held on. Then the thick black smoke enveloped
everyone. All I had was a tissue to cover my mouth and nose.
I
had a Sony radio with me with headphones. The news announced that the
tower had collapsed and that the other one would probably do so. We
passed
the information along to as many people as we could so when it
happened they
would know not to think it was another plane and not to
panic.
When it happened many people just walked into a rather large
restaurant to
get away from the smoke and debris. There were lines to
use the pay phones
since many people's cells were not working. Some
people were staying on the
phone a little longer and the people in the
lines were getting testy, but no
one paniced or fought. They just
wanted to let their loved ones know they
were OK.
When it
cleared we decided to venture out to see if we could find a way to
get
home. As we walked everyone was the same color.... ashen gray. Cars
were covered with inches of it, walking was OK but it looked like a
sandy
beach. When a car went by it raised clouds. Three of my friends
lived on
Staten Island so they decided to wait and see if the Ferry
was running.
My other friend was going to walk across the Brooklyn
Bridge to get home. I
was afraid to get on a bridge but I couldn't let
her go alone. I also
figured it would be easier for my family to pick
me up in Brooklyn since all
the bridges and tunnels were closed and
the subways were not working, and I
wasn't too keen on the safety of
going underground anyway.
We walked towards the Seaport and saw
some boats were taking on passengers.
One went to NJ and lucky for us,
one was going to Brooklyn. We had a seat,
they gave out water and the
ride took about 10 minutes. If we looked to the
left all we could see
was darkness, like night had fallen. Looking to the
right it was so
bright and beautiful. It was like two different worlds.
We found a
phone and I called my sister to let her know I was OK and to pass
it
on to my kids. Then we started walking. We walked about 2 miles looking
for a cab or car service. No cabs, and the car service had very long
waiting
lines or had no cars available. We found a bus line that went
close to my
friend's house, but no buses. We started walking again and
a woman along the
way offered bottled water and a bathroom.
About two blocks away I did a lovely trip and landed on my hip,
elbow,
shoulder and hand, bumping my head to finalize my graceful
decline. Five
people picked me up. I scraped my elbow and hand. I was
afraid I might have
broken my hip, but God was with me. We put water
on my elbow and a lady gave
me some tissues. As we walked to the next
block we saw a bus.
It was packed solid but there werr some people
getting off. They were
letting us get on front and back doors and
didn't have to pay. As I lifted
my tote bag, which was rather heavy, I
felt the weakness in my hand and
shoulder. The hand was bruised and
swollen. I also had pulled a groin
muscle. After a few stops and some
people getting off we got seats. Bye
the time we got off, most of the
people had gotten off.
We went to my friend's house and she
immediately took a shower and said if I
wanted to take one to feel
free. But I would have had to put the same
clothes back on, and I felt
sure I'd be home before the day was over and
would do it then. I
called my son and daughter and they were OK. Then I
called a friend
who lives in Brooklyn to see if she could come and get me,
which she
did. We went to her house and the plan was to have my daughter
come
get me. Well, the parkway they needed to take was closed because it led
to the airport route. So I stayed over and they will come get me this
morning (I hope).
Now my cell is working and I found I had 10
messages from friends and family
and some email from friends like you.
So now that this epistle is over I am
OK and hoping to get home soon.
I will be in touch soon. I need my own bed
and some sleep to get over
the emotional turmoil. Thank you for caring.
Love Ree</TD> |
