Giuliani requests 6,000 body bags.

September 12, 2001 8:17 PM

Giuliani requests 6,000 body bags. I don't feel like this is ever going to end...
posted by owillis (12 comments total)

Pray that 6,000 is too many, but fear it may not be enough.
posted by bjgeiger at 8:23 PM on September 12, 2001

I'm seeing other reports that go as high as 20,000.
posted by rcade at 8:24 PM on September 12, 2001

It will end, as all things do. As I come out of shock I find myself taking solace in the only way I can....my wife, my child and I are still alive. We still have a chance to make the world a better place, a chance that is denied to those that have lost their lives.
posted by dewelch at 8:38 PM on September 12, 2001

I don't feel like this is ever going to end...

Huh? It's been TWO days. I understand the horror, but this, alas, is just the beginning. Do you have any idea how long it is going to be before it does get to some point that can in any way be labelled an "end?"

I think the unit of time we are looking for here is "years."
posted by rushmc at 8:45 PM on September 12, 2001

I understand that, regardless of whether you take an optimistic number or a pessimistic number, this is the most deaths, at one time, in one place, on american soil, since the civil war. my old high school history teacher said in an email that low estimates might be more than all the americans who died in WWI, high estimates more than all those killed in vietnam.

yes, rushmc, I think we are looking at years (of something). but I also feel what owillis is saying; it's like there's nothing else in the world but this. even from the west coast. which might just be the effect of the media...still I can't pull myself away from my tv/radio/computer.

"missing must be presumed dead now" - I just heard that on ABC-TV (komo/kbtc here) - my brain puts that together with cell calls coming from the building and I want to start screaming and screaming, just trying to imagine it.

I want it to stop. I want it to be Monday (my birthday, btw) again. and it won't. so it feels like this is something that will never end.
posted by epersonae at 8:54 PM on September 12, 2001

Huh? It's been TWO days.
That's my point. It's been two days and it feels like forever, but we have much much more to go - years, as you said.
posted by owillis at 8:55 PM on September 12, 2001

I know what you mean. I've over-identified with all the pain, shock, horror, grief, you name it that the families must be feeling and it's worn me to a nub.

rushmc is correct about it taking a VERY long time to get past this, but I think just getting everyone accounted for will be a huge part of our closure.

That, and bin Laden's head on a stick on the front lawn of the White House.
posted by misangela at 8:56 PM on September 12, 2001

As far as it ending... we haven't even scratched the surface of how this will effect our economy. Aside from the unimaginable loss of life... we have displaced businesses, company records destroyed, and a Stock Market that may/may not re-open on Friday.

It's estimated that at least 50,000 people worked there every day. That's not even counting the visitors and tourist that may have been in there... and let's not forget all the people killed on the streets from the debris.
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 9:29 PM on September 12, 2001

Having read the reports and eyewitness accounts, I would put the death toll in NYC somewhere between 3,000 - 5,000 people. It's clear at least the first 70 floors of both WTC building were emptied before they fell. Building 7 was also empty. Most people on the ground were injured, but not killed.

Most loss will from those trapped ABOVE where the planes hit, and from emergency service workers.
posted by Neale at 10:44 PM on September 12, 2001

An interesting tidbit I thought I'd share - related, but not really relevant - a good friend of mine is a Red Cross volunteer, who told me yesterday of watching 50,000 bodybags be unloaded into Madison Square Garden (I think it was MSG) in preparation for Y2K.
posted by Sinner at 10:49 PM on September 12, 2001

Canadian television had an interview with a guy on the 81st floor, above where the second plane hit. He said he was able to work his way down but some of his coworkers went up instead because the stairway was full of smoke.

The stairway was empty all the way down except for a friend of his who was going up the stairs to help others. The building collapsed once he got a few blocks away.

Sounds like the buildings weren't filled with people, so the death toll should be nowhere near 50'000 people.
posted by bobo123 at 11:00 PM on September 12, 2001

i am amazed that the got as many people out as it seems that they did. the death toll will still be horrible, but it seems like the resue workers did manage to get a decent amount of people out. they haven't found many bodies yet, which means that either most are buried deep, or that many more escaped than they believed. i hope it is the latter.

a lot of rescue workers themselves, unfortunately, did not escape in time. they are true heroes that gave their lives helping perfect strangers escape certain death.
posted by mich9139 at 7:46 AM on September 13, 2001