[e-drug] Catastroph in America

[E-drug <e-drug@usa.healthnet.org>]

E-drug: Catastroph in America
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

[E-druggers, I copied this message from the Members HAI-Europe
forum. Our American colleages need our spiritual support in this
difficult moment. With respect. HH]

From:   Anthony So <ASo@rockfound.org>
Sent:   Wednesday 12 September 2001
Subject:        From New York City

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

We appreciate all the kind notes of concern sent to us here in New
York City.

The day began ordinarily enough: heading out to vote in the local
primary elections, penning a few notes in support of the Coalition
for Asian American Children and Families upcoming benefit dinner,
and attending to the overnight e-mails of those of you halfway
around the world. But no words can adequately capture the horror
of this day. As you may all have seen on televised newscasts, the
death toll is simply unimaginable: on a typical day, 50,000 work in
the World Trade Center Towers, and over 200,000 pass through
the complex.

The City's command centers in times of emergency are located in
that area: the Port Authority's offices are located in the World
Trade Centers, and nearby, the City's Emergency Response bunker.
There is nothing left, but rubble: both Towers--110 stories
each--and an adjacent 47-story building have been erased from the
city skyline. For those abroad, let me say that the pictures of people
leaping from the burning World Trade Center Towers to escape the
uncontrolled fires, the heart-breaking stories of those searching for
loved ones in the streets tonight and of children who have returned
home and who still wait tonight for parents now missing, and the
tidal wave of smoke and debris from the collapse of these buildings
that flooded surrounding streets and left lower Manhattan shrouded
in billowing cloud cover much of the day are permanently etched in
our memories here. All civilian aircraft throughout the country is
grounded, airports closed and in New York City evacuated. An early
sense of the magnitude of the catastrophe here was the
disappearance of at least six local television stations and eventually
our public radio station off the airwaves shortly after the
catastrophe this morning. We're all just numbed by the shock of the
unfolding news today.

The National Guard has been called in, aircraft carrier task groups
are entering the New York Harbor, and buildings south of Canal
Street (much of lower Manhattan) have been evacuated. The
Foundation's headquarters in Manhattan are fortunately north of
this zone, but transportation routes throughout the region have
been paralyzed. As outbound routes have been restored over the
course of the day to evacuate the island of Manhattan, we have
learned that not all is over yet. At this hour, early unconfirmed
reports are that a truck possibly loaded with explosives destined for
the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan has just been
stopped, short of its intended target.

Heartening is the human spirit--the same indomitable spirit which I
have learned to appreciate that many of you bring to your work,
some half a globe away, everyday. New Yorkers have poured into
blood donation centers, the emergency response teams have shown
remarkable courage (early reports are that many on site at the
World Trade Centers may have already lost their lives, from the
Chief of the City's Fire Department to the rank and file), and an
armada of ambulances are headed to ground zero at this hour from
Shea Stadium where they have been massing till the fire and
buildings in the area were sufficiently controlled to reach victims
under the fallen structures. There are no reports of looting in the
city. Reportedly trapped victims in the World Trade Center rubble
are making calls at this hour from their cell phones, and this gives
us some hope as rescue efforts continue.

In the weeks ahead, I fear that we may have many funerals to
attend as the nameless victims today become known tomorrow.
The depth of the grief and sorrow felt by the entire metropolis is
hard to convey. Tomorrow will not be a normal workday, but we
will slowly rebuild our lives here.

Thanks to all of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers,

Anthony

Anthony D. So, MD, MPA
Associate Director, Health Equity
The Rockefeller Foundation
420 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018-2702
Tel: +1-212-852-8340
Fax: +1-212-852-8279
E-mail: aso@rockfound.org

--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Information and archive http://satellife.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to:  `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.