On Tue, 11 Sep 2001 15:55:26 Ken Brown wrote:

...

Yep, just a flash crowd. The BBC web site is all but unobtainable. Transatlantic data traffic is slow, but flowing.

If you are in Manhattan YMMV.

Ken

I am in Manhattan. I can see a massive smoke plume from the roof of my building but the Met Life (formerly PanAm) building blocks my view of the World Trade Center itself. The smoke is also visible at street level down the avenues. Even uptown there is considerable emergency vehicle traffic headed in a generally downtown direction. Phone service is working but the system must be deluged as it is sometimes difficult to get a dial tone. The TV transmitters for NYC are on top of one of the towers so those are gone but I assume the cable feeds are still OK. The bridges and tunnels to NJ have been closed, the subway is also closed until further notice. The airports are closed to outgoing flights. Apparently police perimeters are being set up around the UN and other remaining potential targets. The stock exchanges and futures exchanges are all closed. The primary election scheduled for today has been postponed. The World Trade Center normally has 40,00-50,000 people wo! rking in it so casualties are likely to be very high, particularly as the upper floors of both buildings have now collapsed. The mood here is obviously tense but people are still going about their business. I have noticed a few people looking up when they hear a plane overhead. There is considerable anger as well as universal willingness to help out if possible. While Manhattan is physically cut off pretty completely there is no rush that I can see to get out (stranded commuters are resigned to spending the night most likely in hotels or with friends), nor any expectation of further strikes, though obviously the police are taking numerous precautions. All things considered it seem surprising normal, except for the visible smoke and extra high siren level, though tense, here, but of course I am uptown someone closer to the scene will no doubt have a different experience. Jim Windle

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