What were you doing that fateful moment of this day, 10 years ago...
>> Sunday, September 11, 2011
I had just left for work and was rounding the corner onto Teal Ave. when I turned on the radio to listen to Gomez & Dave on TK99. The news was on and I had a hard time understanding what was happening. It was very chaotic and I didn't understand what was going on. I honestly thought there was a hoax similar to The War of The Worlds, where people didn't know it was only a story.
I recall there being a policeman directing traffic at Teal and Grant Blvd, as he was blocking everyone's entrance to continue down Teal Ave, the route I would take, the back way to hop onto the thruway, heading East to Oneida, where I worked. I don't recall why the road was closed, though as he motioned me to go down Grant Blvd, I slowed my vehicle down to him, and with my window rolled down and radio turned up fairly loud, I asked him what was going on, as I can't grasp what was going on, on the radio. That was when he had told me that a plane had just hit one of the World Trade Center Towers.
That was at 8:56 AM.
8:46:26 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 impacts the north side of the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) of the WTC between the 94th and 98th floors. American Airlines Flight 11 was flying at a speed of 490 miles per hour (MPH).
I just recall staring at him as his words floated to my ears. It was almost like everything had slowed down in the universe as the impact of what he was trying to tell me, had made it's way to my ears.
In shock, and trying to listen to the news report, I continue my treck towards the Thruway when, while driving I hear the on-location news reporter start screaming "Oh My God another plane has just hit the other tower!" That was just after 9 AM.
9:02:54 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175 impacts the south side of the South Tower of the WTC between the 78th and 84th floors at a speed of over 500 MPH. Parts of the plane including an engine leave the building from its north side, to be found on the ground up to six blocks away.
I arrive to work and half the staff are in the attached residential home, gathered around the tv. The rest of the staff are huddled around the tv in the conference room of the main office.
And while everyone was glued to the tv, watching the towers burn, the 2nd tower starts to collapse..
9:59:04 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center suddenly collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris quickly fills lower Manhattan.
While I watched from the residential home, screams could be heard, not only from our place, but also in the main building where everyone else was.
Where were YOU when this happened??
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| Taken at this year's New York State Fair |
© 2011 Greeneyezz
1 Reflections:
When the 1st plane hit, I thought it was a terrible freak accident. But when the 2nd plane hit, I knew SOMETHING awful was happening.
After walking out of work, scooping my then 5 year old son, I stayed home and fixated on the television for days. It felt like I was watching a MOVIE with 'special effects'.
So surreal.
However, ten years later, I still cannot bring myself to look at those images again.
Thank you for sharing your story.
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