Washingtonians leave offices, wonder what to do next
[In the wake of Tuesday's terror attack on the Pentagon, a rescue helicopter surveys damage to the Pentagon as firefighters battle flames.]
pictured on website
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 — In the hours after Tuesday’s terror attacks, Washington looked like a city under siege. The nation’s capital and neighboring Virginia were under a state of emergency. But this was no Sarajevo, with refugees carrying their belongings on their backs. This was a metallic refugee caravan: Cars were stacked up like dominoes, all trying to get out of city.
SECURITY PERSONNEL wearing flak jackets and armed with M-16s stood watch at the entry to military facilities scattered throughout the city, watching every move. Secret Service agents toting machine guns directed civilians on the streets. F-16 military jets flew over the city on surveillance missions.
Outgoing highway arteries were at a standstill, with traffic jams backing up into residential neighborhoods. Authorities turned many roads into one-way routes to speed up the evacuation.
All federal buildings — including the White House and the Capitol — were ordered evacuated in the minutes and hours after a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon.
In the middle of the Pentagon’s courtyard, at the center of the five-sided building, medical personnel dealt with the casualties.
“Bulls-eye,” said one aid worker.
Robert Malson, president of the D.C. Hospital Association, said all medical facilities in the area were “on maximum alert.” Malson said he had reports on victims arriving at hospitals, but he refused to release the number, citing ”security reasons.”
Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., said it received 26 patients from the Pentagon, with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
At the Capitol, senators stood alongside office workers on the streets.
One senator — Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska — said Tuesday’s attacks amounted to a “second Pearl Harbor.”
“I’m asking myself if it can happen in America,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., told Reuters outside the Capitol. “Obviously it can. It looks like a coordinated effort.”
A young congressional aide asked a reporter on the street: “Where should I go? Where should I go? I just heard there was another explosion.” The aide was urged to keep walking away.
Congressional leaders were taken to a secure location. President Bush was in Florida when the attacks occurred and stayed away from the capital.
At midmorning, an airplane was heard flying overhead near the Capitol, prompting scores of pedestrians to freeze in their tracks and look skyward for several seconds before the sound faded away.
A tall man in a gray suit led a group of people on the lawn outside the Capitol in prayer and bells on Capitol Hill could be heard playing “America the Beautiful.”
A uniformed Secret Service agent, holding an automatic weapon, directs evacuees from a building near the White House on Tuesday. The Capitol, White House, Pentagon, State Department and other buildings were evacuated as an apparent terror attack spread chaos in the nation's capital.
PANIC AND CALM
About a quarter-million federal workers were sent home early as a result of the evacuations, officials said. Some Washingtonians were on the edge of panic.
“I’m totally freaked out. Hearing the plane going over my head was frightening,” Elissa Brainard, 29, told Reuters as she joined the 150-yard line to get her car from the parking garage.
Drivers ran red lights and sped across intersections, sending pedestrians scattering. Police near the White House tried to direct traffic, but a few blocks away chaos reigned, thwarting the efforts of emergency vehicles.
Wailing sirens from fire engines, police patrols and ambulances mingled with car horns, whistles and human cries.
“Everything is going crazy. People are getting so stressed out,” one office worker said.
Attack on America
The twin towers of the World Trade Center have collapsed, major federal buildings in the nation's capital have been evacuated, and all planes into and out of the U.S. are grounded.
Pedestrians hurried away from the federal quarter and clutched cellular telephones to their ears, desperately trying to reach loved ones. But cellular telephone networks seemed to be disrupted, and people began to line up at public phones.
“I’m terrified. We tried to call on the cell phone but they weren’t working,” office assistant Val Thornton said.
Thornton, whose commuter bus takes her past the Pentagon to her Virginia home, said she did not know how she would get out of the city.
Others seemed unfazed by the emergency.
When his building was evacuated, Roger Connor had been chairing a meeting of Christians, Jews and Muslims about how to help poor people in the United States. The group left the building — but Connor, struggling up a street on crutches, said he refused to be deterred by the attacks.
“Our original meeting place was close to the White House, so we had to evacuate but we’re moving to a different office because our meeting is going to continue,” he said.
The Williams family from Atlanta said their tourist trip was continuing as planned.
“We are carrying on with our Washington sightseeing, just with a little extra caution,” Carl Williams said, standing alongside his wife and teen-age sons. “We’re headed to New York tomorrow, but we’re going to drive.”
MSNBC’s Elliot Zaret and Brock Meeks, as well as Reuters, contributed to this report.