September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Rescue and recovery effort

The area surrounding the World Trade Center became the site of the greatest number of casualties and missing, and physical destruction. This region became known in the ensuing days as "ground zero".

Table of contents 1 Firefighters 2 Doctors, EMTs, etc. 3 Police 4 Ironworkers 5 Truckdrivers 6 American Red Cross 7 National Guard 8 Volunteers 9 American Red Cross 10 Monetary Cost 10.1 External Links and References

Firefighters New York City firefighters rushed to the World Trade Center minutes after the first plane struck the north tower. Chief brass set up a command center in the lobby as firefighters climbed up the stairs. FDNY[?] deployed 200 units to the site.

Many firefighters arrived at the World Trade Center without meeting at the command centers.

Problems with radio communication caused commanders to lose contact with many of the firefighters who went into the buildings; those firefighters were unable to hear evacuation orders.

There was practically no communication with the police, who had helicopters at the scene.

When the towers collapsed, hundreds were killed or trapped within.

Meanwhile, average response times to fires elsewhere in the city that day only rose by one minute, to 5.5 minutes.

The other firefighters worked alternating 24-hour shifts.

Firefighters came from hundreds of miles around New York City, including numerous volunteer units in small-town New York.

Doctors, EMTs, etc.

Police NYPD helicopters were soon at the scene, reporting on the status of the burning buildings.

Many New York City and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police were killed in the collapse of the towers.

The NYPD worked alternating 12-hour shifts in the rescue and recovery effort.

Ironworkers

Truckdrivers

By Friday, 9/14/2001, 9000 tons in 1500 truckloads of debris have been brought to the Fresh Kills[?] landfill. By Monday afternoon, 40,000 tons have been taken out.

American Red Cross

See Donations.

National Guard

Volunteers Volunteers began arriving at the World Trade Center soon after the towers collapsed. Those who arrived in the early hours helped in any way they could, including college students who gave out water to the rescue workers; later unsolicited volunteers were turned away. People with particular skills, including construction, demolition, medical training, and mental health conseling, came to assist throughout the first few days; a team of disaster relief specialists even came from France. By late Friday, September 14, there was essentially no more room for volunteers, though people had arrived from as far off as California, waiting in lines outside the relief administration center at Javits Center[?].

American Red Cross Numbers from the American Red Cross, as of November 19, 2001: 11,549,338 meals/snacks have been served. There have been 50,423 total disaster workers, 48,491 of them volunteers. See also Assistance.

Monetary Cost Estimated total costs, as of 10/3/2001:

$5 billion for debris removal

$14 billion for reconstruction

$3 billion in overtime payments to uniformed workers

$1 billion for replacement of destroyed vehicles and equipment

(one Fire Department accident response vehicle costs $400,000)

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack - Full Timeline
In Memoriam - Casualties - Missing Persons - Survivors - Personal experiences
Donations - Assistance - Closings and Cancellations - Memorials and Services
US Governmental Response - Responsibility - Hijackers - Political effects - Economic effects

See also: "War on Terrorism" -- U.S. invasion of Afghanistan -- 2001 anthrax attack -- World Trade Center -- The Pentagon -- New York City -- Washington, D.C. -- AA Flight 11 -- UA Flight 75 -- AA Flight 77 -- UA Flight 93 -- U.S. Department of Defense -- terrorism -- domestic terrorism -- Osama bin Laden -- Taliban -- Islamism -- Afghanistan -- collective trauma -- September 11

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External Links and References

• Fire Dept. Lapses on 9/11 Are Cited, The New York Times, 8/3/2002 (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/nyregion/03FIRE)
  
• In Last Piles of Rubble, Fresh Pangs of Loss, The New York Times, 3/17/2002 (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/17/nyregion/17SITE)
  
• THE VOLUNTEERS: Good Intentions Lead to a Bad Ending, New York Times, 10/18/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/18/nyregion/18BOOK)
  
• THE SITE: In an Urban Underbelly, Hidden Views of Terror's Toll, New York Times, 10/14/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/nyregion/14UNDE)
• THE BUDGET: Finances of New York City Staggered by the Emergency, New York Times, 10/3/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/03/nyregion/03BUDG)
• Fire Dept. Asks If There Are Some Fires It Shouldn't Fight, New York Times, 9/30/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/30/nyregion/30FIRE)
  
• UNDERGROUND: Looting Is Reported in Center's Tomblike Mall, New York Times, 9/21/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/21/nyregion/21TOMB)
  
• THE SITE: Police Commissioner Backs Poor Outlook on Survivors, New York Times, 9/19/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/19/nyregion/19CND-RESC) also describes visits by political leaders
  
• THE FIREMEN: Department Promotes 168 to Rebuild Officer Ranks, New York Times, 9/18/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/nyregion/17PROM)
• THE DISPOSAL: Hauling the Debris, and Darker Burdens, New York Times, 9/17/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/nyregion/17TRUC)
• THE FUNERALS: For the Fire Department, the First Three Farewells, New York Times, 9/16/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/16FUNE)
• City Loses Hundreds of Bravest, Finest, New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/4019.htm)
• THE FIREFIGHTERS: Department's Cruel Toll: 350 Comrades, New York Times, 9/13/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/nyregion/13FIRE)
• THE RESPONSE: Firefighters Dash Into Towers; Many Do Not Return, New York Times, 9/12/2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/nyregion/12RESC)