Jesus Christ people.

What's happening?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Answers

Man alive. I'm watching it on the news right now.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

The subway this morning was announcing "No service to Chambers Street," where the WTC is, but I didn't think anything of it because a dead rat in the wrong place will delay the subway. Then I got on the elevator and a man who had been on the 70th floor of Tower 2 (the second one hit) was coming up to tell his brother he was OK.

(For the record, my office is considerably far north of the WTC. Nobody's going to make Carnegie Hall or Central Park a target yet.)

Last I heard one of the two planes was a 767, possibly from Boston, possibly American Airlines. CNN is down.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

The Pentagon? THE PENTAGON?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

NY1 is now showing pictures of a fire in Washington.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Now they're saying it was a plane that crashed into the Pentagon. The White House has been threatened and evacuated.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

State Department, Capitol building, all evacuated.

The top part of Tower 2 has collapsed.

I really need a hug. Or a drink.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

It was an American Airlines Boeing 767 from Boston, possibly bound for Los Angeles.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Hannah and AB, will you keep posting, if you can? There are two TVs in my office and both are crowded enough . . . I'm going to go down to the sixth floor for a bit; there's a TV there.

The Sears Tower has apparently been evacuated, and it was apparently a third (not necessarily terrorist-related) explosion that caused Tower 2 to collapse.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Is Mike at work today? H and AB, do y'all know?

Is T stuck in Tallahassee now?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Odds are he may not have, and even if he did, he may have been evacuated. So it's very well possible that he's perfectly safe and just nowhere near a computer. Nobody go jumping to conclusions.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Tower 1 gone.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

He was supposed to be. Al, did you call him?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

WG, you okay?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

I'm more emotionally shaken than anything else; I'm no more in danger than you are at the ChaoHaus. The one thing is that my uncle has changed offices, and now I can't remember if he's further south than 31st (where he used to be). I'm trying to reach my mom but Sprint's network is overloaded.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Another plane down in PA, supposedly hijacked and en route to Chicago.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Has anyone heard anything else on the plane from Dallas to LA that is missing?

That's freaking me out - they're talking about shooting planes down and stuff if it looks like they've been hijacked. How horrifying.

The reporters on the scene are sounding more and more emotional and upset. They just said it's worse than Pearl Harbor. People are jumping out of the World Trade Center to escape the flames.

Lawzy, people.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

A poster on the 3WA boards (y'all and 3WA being my two main online sources of info right now) said that the PA plane was en route from Cleveland to Chicago and was a passenger plane.

This doesn't feel real. I hadn't heard anything about a Dallas-LA plane.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

CNN is saying a portion of the Pentagon has collapsed.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

I've been in the gym watching Fox News for 2 hours. Y'all. I can't believe this. Both WTC towers. Gone. The pentagon?

A corworker is stuck in his hotel in Soho. WG, I'm so glad you're okay.

Where is Berman???

I've only heard about the first plane. And that the pentagon plane was US Air. What about the other two?!

The plane down in PA might be a casualty of poor air traffic control.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Louise (one of my co-workers) is coming around and asking people who live outside Manhattan if they need lodging for the night.

I've spoken to my dad and grandmother, telling them I'm OK. Haven't heard from my roommate, but I'm probably not tops on her list to call, and she works in the 20s anyway.

The Smoker is counselling me to get some work done. Because options are just SO compelling on a day like today.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

They're sending us home. I work in the HO of a retail company. They just closed ALL our stores NATIONWIDE.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Crazy. Hannah, will you keep posting? Do you want my cell #?

Here's a news report confirming the Camp David crash, though I don't know how seriously to take it.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

i believe the plane from Boston (originally in route to LA, which Slickery is scheduled to be on next month for work, yikes) was an American flight

American Airlines has reported that it had two flights hijacked. i don't know the carrier of the flight that crashed near Pittsburgh. NBC is reporting that a total of four flights were hijacked, but are not releasing/do not have all the details

now a bomb has just been reported in a high school in NYC, the NBC reporter is being told to move

watching the two towers collapse (esp since the pictures didn't have sound) cannot be described properly

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

just reported, the plane that crashed outside of Pittsburgh was a United flight from Newark bound to San Francisco

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

A United plane, according to my co-worker, has been confirmed hijacked. I believe she said it crashed near San Francisco, but again, this is second-hand information.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Rog, I had heard the Pittsburgh crash was a Chicago-to-Cleveland flight.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

AB - I just called home and picked up your message. I'm at that stupid temp job. I can't call you or Berman or anybody. I'm going crazy. The people here are such idiots, they're like "Oh, they wouldn't do anything to Atlanta."

Uh, why not?

Plus, WHO CARES? Our nation's capitol and the center of world finance is on fire and planes are crashing everywhere.

Lord. I'm in a state.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Al -- according to The Smoker, Atlanta is a "3rd-tier" city, meaning that all the cities in the 1st and 2nd tiers would be considered more likely terrorist attacks than Atlanta.

I may go try and give blood in a bit.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Hey, Al.

There are Masses at noon all over D/FW.

People in Palestine are cheering and giving out candy, Katie Couric just said. Fucking yay.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Well I am in Tallahassee, they've shut evrything down here. Except of course the bank that I work at.

I've been watching the whole thing on TV all morning. This is proabably the scariest thing I've ever seen.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Yeah, I'm not so worried that ATL is in trouble, you know, I am just horrified by the whole thing and worried about friends and fam.

WG, Mike - be careful.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Meredith's in New York and I can't get her. Fuck all.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Okay, I'm going to go donate blood. I may be there a while if there's a line. If y'all are worried, don't hesitate to call my cell -- I'm going to spam Hannah, Al, and AB with it.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Allison. Go fucking home. Screw the temps.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

I want to, because I can't get the MOC on the phone. But I need this cash, so I'm gonna stay if I can stand it.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

They are sending us home soon; our governor has been moved to Framingham, where we live, because FEMA (emergency response) is there.

The Logan Airport officials had a news conference and we are hearing that it is confirmed that two American Airlines flights and one United are all confirmed as hijacked and two of those three came out of Boston.

Two people I work with had relatives working in the trade center buildings. One wasn't in yet and is fine; the other was in building 2 when 1 got hit and got out of 2 before it was hit.

We have friends in DC and all are accounted for but one; no one can reach her with the phones so fucked up. Those friends that are accounted for are all at one guy's apartment, six blocks from the state department, watching the pentagon burn from his windows.

Watching those buildings collapse and the debris blow down the street was like a scene from a movie.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Hey.

I'm OK. The plane crashed right in front of me as I was driving into work.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Bless you, Mike. I'm so happy you and WG are okay.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Heard from Meredith. She's fine. God, this is craziness.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

If you can get it to load, MSNBC has a good timeline giving info about the the planes and such. 4 commercial flights so far, it looks like. United airlines and American Airlines both had extremely brief statements on their websites, giving flight numbers and paths.

I don't even know what to say. Just when it seems like it can't get any worse, it does. Our nation is under attack and our fellow citizens are the targets. This is horrific.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

What happens now? Do the airports reopen? Will we stay on lockdown for days?

How do FOUR American planes get hijakced, within the US, almost simulatenously. How does that happen?!

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

They are saying we are at war now, in just 5 short hours our whole country & it's history are changed forever. The date? 911.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

So we're at war. How did our world change in minutes?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

But, wait a minute - who are we at war with? It's bin Laden, right?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

I just went outside and stood on the corner of Second Avenue and East 75th Street here in NYC. You can see the cloud of smoke from here. People are walking uptown slowly, the streets are mobbed with the exodus north.

They looked stricken.

Mike, I am so glad you are okay.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

All the "we are at war" comments I've heard on tv have been saying "This is a terrorist declaration of war on the US." Nothing I've heard has said that the US is officially at war or has figured out who to blame for this who would be the targets of this war.

Early in the morning there were claims that a Palenstine liberation organization claimed responsibility but then their leaders issued an official denial.

So far most experts are saying that there are only a handful of terrorist groups that have the expertise, money and personnel to pull of an attack of this magnitude. ben Laden is on that short list.

It is known that an associate of ben Laden was supposed to be sentanced tomorrow for his part in the bombing of the US embassy in Tanzania. The courthouse is very close to the trade centers.

However, the Afghan government that is reportedly hiding/sheltering ben Laden has denied that he could be in any way involved and claims only a government could have launched an attack of this magnitude.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Wow, Sara. I'm so glad you're ok. What a total, total nightmare. I can't even imagine being in NYC or DC right now. Even looking at the television and seeing that plane crash over and over into the building doesn't make it seem real.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Sara, I'm very glad to hear you're OK.

For those not on her list, Kymm is fine as well, as is Tracing.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Bush is in Nebraska?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Well, score one for the heartless New Yorkers -- I've been to three different blood centers and all three were filled to overcapacity. They're now requesting people come back tomorrow.

Y'all may want to stop reading now: according to a co-worker, local hospitals, prepped for overflow, aren't receiving many patients -- because there aren't many patients to be treated.

I saw the smoke when I looked down Lexington Avenue, but I still don't quite believe it.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

WG - do you think you'll be able to get back to Brooklyn? I heard that the mayor reopened some of the subways.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Oh, my uncle and roommate are both OK.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Hannah -- the F train, which is one of mine, has reportedly been re- opened, but they may have re-opened it to Queens only. I'm skeptical because the report said the E was also open, and the E's southernmost terminal is, well, the World Trade Center.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Sara, you've been in my thoughts and prayers all day.

WG, glad to hear your people are fine.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Y'all, my girlfriend's sister's boyfriend works in the World Trade Center, and she hasn't heard from him.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Mike, was he in Tower 1 or Tower 2? Does she know? I spoke to a guy this morning who was evacuated from Tower 2 (the 70th floor) immediately after Tower 1 was hit.

Also, cell networks are completely jammed.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

I'm not sure.

But the girl I talk about in my entry is OK ... she's overseas, oddly enough.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

The brother of the Captain of American Flight 11 just spoke. His brother was a Lt. in the Air Force.

Why did the flight in PA get ditched and not that one? The crew must've been taken out almost immediately. The hijackers were clearly aslo trained to fly.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Dan Rather is talking about airport security now.

Was there just a major breakdown at Logan?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Mike, I'm glad you're okay. Your email address isn't working.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Really? So much for the reliability of hotmail.

Thanks.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

this is scary y'all. my mom had a dream around 8-8:30am CST time where people were flying from buildings and the sky was a different colour; she said she was thinking "there is death. we're going to die. I don't want to die, but I'm not scared." and then she woke up to a phonecall from the guest telling her to turn on the news.

I woke up around noon with no knowledge till I turned on the tv...scaryscaryscary! it was surreal...I didn't think I was awake seeing those buildings and people running down the street...they even closed down alot of places downtown houston. mom's supposed to go to a concert, but now she's saying it's not a good idea. I'd say.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

From 3WA:

1:23 pdt – There was a call out from one of the planes. It was a former federal prosecutor, she’d been a commentator on some of the recent Condit… She was the wife of the Solicitor General of the U.S. She said that the passengers had all been moved to the back of the plane. It sounds like it was just a couple minutes before the plane hit the Pentagon. So, the passengers were still alive at that point.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

"All the "we are at war" comments I've heard on tv have been saying "This is a terrorist declaration of war on the US." Nothing I've heard has said that the US is officially at war or has figured out who to blame for this who would be the targets of this war."

I just listened to an extensive interview on the radio (sorry, I am too flustered still to say who with), but as they pointed out, it's impossible for us to let something like this go unanswered. Obviously the world agrees and are gearing up for things. Gas prices just shot up to $4.00 per gallon here.

The stock market will be shut down again tomorrow. I can't believe that they are even saying noon tomorrow for resuming flights. It seems so soon. I wonder, for the Americans abroad right now, are they longing to get home or are they thankful to be out of the US right now?

I guess I am still dealing with this feeling of shock that this could happen here. "I'm asking myself if it can happen in America," Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said standing outside the evacuated Capitol. I feel the same.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Yeah, they just showed that on TV.

Someone said it, either here or in one of the articles I read, but the terrorists much have been accomplished pilots. Nobody's going to fly into the World Trade Center, even with a gun to his head.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Actually, the BBC doesn't think pilot experience would be necessary: here's their speculation on what happened. I agree that the crew must have been dead.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

That makes sense.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

About 20 minutes ago ABC ran footage I hadn't seen yet. The camera was right below the WTC and caught the second plane flying into the tower and exploding out the other side. The cameraman said it looked like "bad special effects."

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Seven World Trade Center has collapsed. They thought it might all afternoon, so there shouldn't be as many injuries -- hopefully everyone who needed to get out of there has.

Allison, I've updated.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Okay, nobody panic, but they're cordoned off my street.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Or not. There's still traffic but there are definitely cop cars outside.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Okay, they're gone, apparent false alarm.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Do you think you can get home now? I want you to go home.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Ignore Panicky McSillyperson over here. Carry on.

Kabul, Afghanistan, now under fire.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

The girlfriend's sister's boyfriend has been accounted for!

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Good, M.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

T checked in with me. She's back in the ATL.

WHAT'S going on in Afghanistan?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

M, thank goodness.

The Kabul fire may have nothing to do with us; that area is apparently within range of the anti-Taliban forces.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Okay, all. In the next 10 minutes or so I'm going to leave the office. If you're worried, even if you think you're being Paranoid McSillyperson, don't hesitate to call me. Seriously. Cell service seems to be back up now, although if any news breaks it could go down again.

I'm hoping to get back home to Brooklyn, where I don't have a Net connection (which, frankly, is part of the reason I want to get home) and not return to the office till noon tomorrow or so. I may end up heading uptown to crash with my ex, or into Queens to crash with another friend. But really I'd prefer to go home.

Take care, everyone. Get home safe and give your loved ones a kiss.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

It doesn't seem quite real from all the way over here in Oz. I'm in a secure building near the airport, and I keep switching between thinking the floor is going to collapse and wondering what all the fuss is about.

I'm glad you're all OK.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

ABC just listed the Pentagon casualties at around 800. Eight. Hundred.

I'm afraid to go to sleep, for fear of what I'll wake up to find.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Maybe I'm a baby, but these photos are scary. (I mean besides, obviously, being scary in their own horrific right.)

http://www.snopes2.com/spoons/photos/wtcface.htm

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

My mother called me about those last night, H. I don't care if they're plays of light, they still look freaky to me.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001

There's been talk of posthumously awarding these passengers the Congressional Medal of Honor. I say do it.

http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010916phonecallnat3 p3.asp

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/living/0918nostradamus.html

That might clear a few things up...

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001