The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

Author:Garrett M. Graff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Published: 2019-09-09T16:00:00+00:00

“All available boats”

* * *

At the Waterfront

For those at the tip of Lower Manhattan, the only viable evacuation route turned out to be the water. A makeshift, unorganized armada of more than 130 ferries, pleasure yachts, sightseeing vessels, Coast Guard and police vessels, fireboats, and tugboats gathered—many without being asked—at Battery Park and nearby piers. By the end of the day, they had collectively evacuated somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people from Manhattan—a maritime rescue larger than the World War II evacuation from Dunkirk.

Lt. Joseph Torrillo, director of fire education safety, FDNY: Two of the ambulance crews, they were digging and digging and they found me. They got me out from underneath the rubble. They put me on this long, stiff piece of plastic called a spine board and strapped my hands to my chest. They taped my neck onto the spine board—they thought I had a broken neck—and they ran with me to the marina in the back of the World Financial Center and they put me on the deck of a boat.

With that, there was a loud rumble and a roar and the people on the boat started screaming, “Oh, my God! Here comes the other building!” Everybody jumped off the boat. I was left all alone and was getting hit with the glass from the North Tower. Frantic, I bent my finger and the release belt opened and my hands were free, and I ripped the tape off of my neck. I rolled off the stretcher, and I jumped into the doorway, not knowing I ended up diving headfirst into the engine room of the boat. The North Tower was hitting the deck of the boat. The boat was rocking. I thought it was going to go under.

Peter Moog, officer, NYPD: I heard a lady yell, “Help, TARU!” She had read the shirt I had on which said “TARU” [Technical Assistance Response Unit] on the back. She was a lieutenant I knew, Terri Tobin, and she had a huge piece of concrete embedded in her head and two very large jagged pieces of glass in her back, both left and right of her spine. She was lying on the ground.

Lt. Terri Tobin, public information officer, NYPD: He was a real cutie. He said, “I think I should carry you down to the water.” I responded, “Peter, that’s okay, I saw EMS. They wrapped my head.” He said, “No, through your blouse—between your shoulder blades—there’s a shard of glass sticking out of your back.”

Peter Moog: I carried her down to the water. Another officer and I got her down on a boat by the North Cove Marina.

Lt. Terri Tobin: An NYPD harbor boat pulled up, and the captain—who I knew—hopped out and saw me. He said, “You need to go to a hospital.” But I couldn’t get on board with a shard of glass in my back because they were afraid that if the boat rocked, it would cause more damage. He called over two EMS workers, and

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