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A Perfectly Unordinary Tuesday Morning
 North Tower struck at 8:48 a.m., collapsed about 90 minutes
later
South Tower struck at 9:03 a.m., collapsed about 60 minutes
later, largely evacuated prior to second impact
Collapses measured at 4.0+ on the Richter Scale
One million tons of debris and dust released: down, up, in and
out
Registered on all five senses
Debris impact damage to:
- #3 – #7 WTC
- American Express and Dow Jones Towers at WFC
- Winter Garden
- Millennium Hotel
- ERSB
- One Liberty Plaza
- 130 Liberty
- St. Nicholas Church
#5 & #6 WTC collapsed immediately
#3 & #4 WTC gutted and burned
#7 WTC damaged, ignited and collapsed at 7:00 p.m., hitting
Post Office and Western Union Building with second telephone
exchange
130 Liberty St. two-thirds "habitable", but likely to be
demolished
Subway tunnels damaged on N, R, 1 and 9 Lines
Solid debris found 1/2 mile away
Dense fallout for 2+ mile radius
Underground fires still burning in Mid-November
Fatalities Count
Cantor Fitzgerald: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600+
FDNY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300+
Marsh, incl. GC accounting: . . . . . . . . .295
Aon, incl. Aon Re: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200+
Pentagon: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Windows staff and guests: . . . . . . . . . .150+
Four planes: passengers,
crew, highjackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Police (NYC and PA), EMT's: . . . . . . . .100+
Total (We may never know) : . . .4,000 - 4,500 (perhaps fewer)
The relatively early hour may have saved 20,000 lives.
Evacuation of two million people within six hours:
Exodus by foot to 14th St. and over Manhattan and
Brooklyn Bridges
Rerouted bus service from 14th Street
Dunkirk-style boat lift to Brooklyn and NJ
MASH surgeries set up -- tragically not needed
Infrastructure Damage:
No power South of Canal Street for one week plus
Most cell phone transponders were out
Very limited land phone service
Very limited VHF and FM reception
No broadband email access
Central Post Office un-occupable (pre-anthrax)
Subways closed for long-term: PATH downtown lines, N,
R, 1 and 9 (tunnels plugged to avoid flooding)
Temporary closings at most other downtown subways for
one week plus
NJ Ferries dislocated
Subway, bridge and tunnel closings for security reasons
Financial markets closed for six days for first time in
over 100 years
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