From the Inside Out: Harrowing Escapes from the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center

by Erik O. Ronningen

Then the blizzard began—a blizzard of falling paper, debris, and rubbish forced out of the upper tower from the explosion, resembling a midwinter, Great Plains storm. So intense was the raining wreckage that the beautiful view of New York Harbor could no longer be seen. A FedEx package came spiraling down in the mix made Erik immediately think of the Tom Hanks’ movie Cast Away. The mind is a curious mechanism.

Briefcase in hand, heading for the exit, Tad heard his telephone begin to ring. Turning back, he reached for it, picked up the receiver, and said, “Hello?” “What the hell are you still doing up there?” a familiar voice shouted. It was his brother calling from Poland. “You’d better get your ass downstairs because from what I hear, it is a serious situation!”