 |
|
News
from the USA
|
September 19th, 2001
Search and Rescue becomes Recovery
As recovery efforts continue at "Ground Zero" of the WTC site, the City of New York reported that as of yesterday, 270 bodies have been recovered from the World Trade Center (WTC) of which 111 have been identified. The number of injured is 4,394 of which 377 remain hospitalized and 5,422 persons are registered as missing.Sixty-four nations have suffered casualties in New York.
Fifty-two nations and the European Union have offered various types of assistance. A plan is being prepared establishing a method to integrate the assistance being offered. Eight FEMA and two non-FEMA Urban Search and Rescue task forces are in New York and four new task forces from Arizona, California and Washington are deploying today. Ten U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) debris subject experts are mobilizing to New York to offer contract and plan management assistance to the city. As of September 18, 49,533 tons of debris has been removed.
Search and Rescue
| The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), along with its federal, state,
and local partners, continue operations in both New York and Washington.
NEW YORK New York state officials from the World Trade Center disaster site report 108 bodies have been recovered, 58 have been identified. The number of injured is 3,201 of which 164 remain hospitalized and 5,300 persons are listed as missing. To assist in the identification process, New York City is establishing a DNA specimen collection facility. |
 |
Eight Urban Search and Rescue task forces and an Incident Support Team are operating in New York City. The task forces are staging out of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and are from Beverly, Mass.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Miami Valley, Ohio; Marion County, Ind.; Boone County, Mo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Riverside, Calif.; and Sacramento, Calif. The Incident Support Team, responsible for managing the task forces, is from New York.
Teams from Florida, Utah, Texas and New Mexico are activated and awaiting rotation to duty.
In support of the US&R task forces, OES is preparing to deploy additional personnel to the Pentagon and World Trade Center disaster scenes, at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Among those being deployed are mapping, planning, and logistics specialists, as well as a donations manager.
|
According to Ohio's Task Force Leader, Mike Muhl, the team is starting to show some wear both physically and emotionally. “The frustration level is starting to rise for our personnel. You can only take so much of this at one time and we are rotating our crews more frequently. We need to find someone alive in there” said Muhl. The group has been tunneling through debris where it is expected that many Firefighters and Police Officers could be trapped. “We discovered a New York City Ladder Truck approximately four stories under the top of the debris pile. This was a very emotional moment for our team members” said Muhl. On a more positive note, Muhl reports that Task Force morale is running very high. “I just can’t describe the feeling we all get as we travel to and from the site and see thousands of New Yorkers cheering for our efforts and holding signs of support,” said Muhl. There were early concerns that other buildings in the area were unstable and at risk for collapse. Highly technical equipment has been put in place to ensure that even the slightest movement in any structure will be noted and appropriate evacuation of the area will take place well in advance of any collapse. The Task Force members feel very comfortable working in this situation and have great faith in the equipment and those operating it. All three California US&R teams continue to work alongside and in support of New York fire and police personnel. California's Riverside task force is currently working with six excavators, one 500-ton crane and a 350-ton crane, near a 200-foot deep, 1,000 feet in diameter crater, where Tower 2 collapsed. |
 |
During the night, team members from one of the California's three Urban, Search, and Rescue (US&R) Task Forces were working near an Indiana US&R task force when the Indiana unit forced entry into a burning area and had a fire flashed on them. California rescuers extinguished the fire and helped get the Indiana firefighters out. Four of the Indiana firefighters were burned. Three of those burned were treated and released. There is currently no update on the most severely burned.
 |
WASHINGTON
The Governor of Virginia has established a multi-agency Terrorism Victim's Assistance Center to coordinate information requests and offer assistance to victims and their family members.
The Arlington, Va. Fire Department declared the Pentagon fire extinguished at 2:18 p.m. EDT, Sept. 14. Both Department of Defense and local fire department officials will continue to monitor the scene for the next few days.
Four FEMA Urban Search and Rescue task forces continue operations at the Pentagon. They are from Fairfax County, Va.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Montgomery County, Md.; and Memphis, Tenn.
Recovery Operations Underway
Recovery operations are underway at the Pentagon and World Trade Center sites, and recovery of victims of the disaster has begun.Initial casualty figures from the New York State Emergency Management Agency report 40 fatalities, between 1500-2000 persons injured and 265 firefighters missing. There have been 266 confirmed fatalities from the four airline crashes. Five firefighters were rescued from their 4x4 vehicle, which was parked outside where the World Trade Center stood. Calls via mobile phones are still being received from people trapped underneath the thousands of tons of rubble.
PENTAGON RECOVERY OPERATIONS CONTINUE
Search and rescue operations at the Pentagon, led by as many as 200 Arlington County firefighters and police assisted by a number of other jurisdictions, continue today. The area of the Pentagon where the aircraft struck and burned sustained catastrophic damage. Anyone who might have survived the initial impact and collapse could not have survived the fire that followed.
When the aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, it reportedly was carrying several thousand gallons of jet fuel, which caused an intense fire in the immediate crash area. Reconnaissance efforts conducted overnight indicate that there are no survivors in the immediate collapsed area. Listening devices that have been able to get in have proven negative, and it is doubtful that anyone in the immediate impact area survived.
Rescue authorities are planning to use a wrecking ball this morning in the collapsed section of the Pentagon to clear away unstable rubble so urban search and rescue teams can safely begin their search effort in adjacent areas. Stabilizing the building at this point will allow full search and rescue operations and ensure the safety of the teams as they go about their business. This decision was reached after joint consultations with county, state, federal and military authorities.
September 12, 2001.
According to one of the designers of the World Trade Center (WTC), the towers were originally designed to take the impact of a Boeing 707; and the impact of the aircraft this morning did not take the buildings down. In fact, WTC One stood for 1 hour and WTC Two stood for 1 3/4 hours after impact.
Engineers familiar with the chain of events suspect that heat from the massive and extraordinary fires weakened the structures and initiated the progressive collapses. John Hooper, a structural engineer from Skilling, Ward, Magnusson, Barkshire, the structural engineering firm that evolved from Skilling, Helle, Christianson, Robertson, which was the structural engineering firm of record for the WTC, provided the following facts to NCSEA: WTC One was 1368' tall, and WTC Two was 1362' tall. Each 110-story tower had a floor plate that was 208' by 208'. The central core of each was 86' square. Around the perimeter of tteel trusses spanning 60', from the core to the perimeter wall, on each side of the building.
The buildings are also thought to have been the first buildings to use non-asbestos fireproofing. The fibers of the spray-on fireproofing produhe buildings, columns were spaced at 3'-3" on center, with 48"- deep plate girders at each floor. At the third level, the columns transitioned in an arch-like formation to a 10'-0" spacing for the lower story. Floors were supported by sct were reportedly ceramic rather than asbestos.
NCSEA has contacted FEMA and will coordinate and make available structural engineers in the New York and Washington D.C. areas. NCSEA will also coordinate and provide the services of Member Structural Engineering Associations throughout the U.S., as needed. The National Council of Structural Engineers Associations is extremely saddened with the day's news, including the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families.
Situation Report
At approximately 0845 hours Eastern Daylight Time a commercial airplane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. At that time, the severity of the incident, the numbers of people involved, and the reason for the crash were all unknown. Shortly after 0900 hours, a second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
Around 1000 hours, reports came in that another plane hit the Pentagon, in Washington, DC, and a fourth plane was downed in Somerset County, PA, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Shortly after 1000 hours the south tower of the World Center collapsed. Within the next half-hour, the northern tower of the World Trade Center also collapsed. At approximately 1730 hours a third tower in the World Trade Center complex, Building No.7, also collapsed.
As of 2200 hours, it is unknown how many people are deceased, but it is assumed that all passengers and crew of the four flights were killed, as well as thousands of other civilians on the ground. Five DMATs and four DMORTs have been mobilized and sent to New York City. In addition, three DMATs (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) and three DMORTs (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) have been sent to Washington, DC.
The NDMS (National Disaster Medical System) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated since 0910 hours and will run continuously for an indefinite time period.
FEMA has deployed eight Urban Search & Rescue teams (US&R) to New York City to search for victims in the affected buildings. US&R teams are specially trained teams that include engineers and other technical experts as well as specially trained search dogs. Another four teams have been deployed to the Pentagon, for search and rescue efforts there. Four other teams are standing by.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is deploying a planning cell specializing in debris removal to New York City. Structural assessment teams are standing by in case needed. Additional debris planning cells will be deployed to Virginia once air restrictions are lifted.
Firefighters Killed
Reports suggest that between 200 and 300 firefighters and many other emergency services personnel died when the World Trade Center towers collapsed yesterday. Among those killed was the Chief of the New York Fire Department, Peter Ganci.
FEMA Mobilizes Twelve Urban Search and Rescue Teams
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed 12 Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Teams -- eight to New York and four to Washington DC -- to search for victims in buildings damaged by Tuesday's apparent terrorist attacks.
The teams operate around the clock, and include engineers and other technical experts and specially trained search dogs. The National US&R, coordinated by FEMA, provides for the response of expertly trained and well-equipped urban search and rescue teams from over the country to assist when local resources are overwhelmed.
FEMA's US&R teams are trained and equipped to handle any structural collapse, and consist primarily of local emergency services personnel from 18 states.
Units deployed to New York include:
| Massachusetts Task Force 1 | Ohio Task Force 1 |
| Missouri Task Force 1 | Pennsylvania Task Force 1 |
| Indiana Task Force 1 | California Task Force 1, Task Force 6 and 7 |
Units deployed to Washington, DC include:
| Virginia Task Force 1 | Maryland Task Force 1 |
| Tennessee Task Force 1 | Virginia Task Force 2 |
TASK FORCE CAPABILITIES: