This just in (Fox News Chicago): American Airlines has confirmed that two of the three planes involved were theirs - flight 11 from Boston to LA and flight 77 from Dulles to LA. 11 is said to be the first one to hit WTC, 77 is the one reported to have hit the Pentagon. No word yet on the third plane.
We are not able to locate one of my husband’s co-workers who is traveling by air right now. My husband has business associates in the WTC. Another friend is awaiting news from someone who was to come in to O’Hare from NYC today.
This is scary as hell. I posted this elsewhere, but if anyone is having trouble with phone lines and needs to keep someone informed, please let me know, I will try to place calls for you.
Damm, a 767 in Cleveland is being sequestered with 200 people on board. The pilot believes there is a bomb on board. They speculate that the plane had been diverted to Cleveland when all flights were ordered down. The speculation is that it might be a hostage situation with hijackers onboard. Details are sketchy.
Just in, Nasa Glenn which is right next to Hopkins airport is being evacuated
Verizon has (had) a central office in each of the WTC towers. I am looking at the network map right now…two main switching nodes totally unreachable & trunks down in all directions.
The Potomac region looks to be up & operational at this time.
Side note: In Florida, the Holy Land Experience theme park has closed down because of the nature of the park - celebrating Christianity in the Holy Land. Other theme parks are still open.
I can vouch for the Phone lines in Northern Virginia. That’s the only way I can connect to the internet. The cable lines appear to be either down or overloaded. My dad is OK.
The elementary school where my mom works is locked down tightly as well. She says parents are calling every 30 seconds to make sure the kids are safe and to see if they’ll be sent home.
They sent my dad home from work, which was a relief, since he works at a large nuclear power plant…a more than obvious target once you’re done crashing on large buildings.
I want everything to be okay the way it was when I woke up this morning. The world is coming down around our ears.
Update on the Cleveland 767, no hostages, no hijack but there may still be a bomb. The flight originated from Boston and was not scheduled to land in Cleveland. All passengers have been removed and the plane has been moved to an out of the way place for the bomb squad to investigate.
The local media really played this up for a moment, I should have known they were detail deficient when the news babe spoke of the Mayor “Immobilizing” emergency teams.
I can’t believe this. I can’t stop crying. I live in Woodbury, a white-bread, middle class suburb of St. Paul. I couldn’t stand to be alone hearing all this and went outside. Beautiful morning, just perfect weather. Ran into several of my neighbors, mothers walking back from the school bus stop. They are laughing, talking, stop and stare at me. I’m crying, barefoot, not quite coherent. I said I was afraid it was a war. We all went to my neighbors house and watched Dan Rather. Saw the WTC collapse, all the smoke, people crying. We were all in shock. Toddlers playing on the floor in the kitchen, newborn gurgling and looking so sweet. Totally surreal, disconnected from reality somehow. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m praying for everyone in the areas of attack, and that this will be the end of it. It’s already bad enough.
This is stunning. I don’t really know what to say. It seems too much like something ripped from the pages of Tom Clancy (btw, it would be Debt of Honor) to be real. I’m not someone who cries a great deal, but my eyes are moistened. I cannot begin to describe this insanity. Thanks for bearing with me.
I don’t have long-distance service either, but if anyone out there needs help contacting anyone else, I’d me more than happy to email. I’m in Michigan, BTW. I do have some time on my cell phone, though, so I can make some long distance calls on that.
I’ve decided to stay home from work today. I work at Flint City Hall. Although I seriously doubt we’ll get hit here, I just feel a little safer.
Last word I heard was that a plane was forced to land in Columbia SC. No word on why the plane was in flight, but it landed safely.
If anyone needs me to call someone for them, please email me at ruperdk@musc.edu. Or you can use my AOL instant messager : KerriRuperd. Oh, and GSU Atlanta is still scheduling school today. I just got word from a friend. Classes are not cancelled unless each individual professor decides to.
What a horrible day.
I’m in New Jersey. Local phone service is ok. Local Cellular Service is OK. I can’t call outside of New Jersey. My internet access is cable from comcast. Slow connection due to net traffic but seems to be functioning.
