9-11 started as just another day. Once at VRI, a client told me that a plane had hit the WTC. I went upstairs to watch the news. The 2nd plane hit. We prepared for a deluge of disaster calls. None came in. We had supported many disasters before. But never one that involved loss of life. This was different. The calls didn’t start until late afternoon. Companies were trying to figure out who was alive. Recovery was the last thing on their minds. The calls came in over the next 2 days.
We drove tapes to Nashville, Denver, Virginia and to the usual local hot-sites. By 9-13, there were still 4 NYC customers who we hadn’t heard from. Ron and I took the ferry to Manhattan. Not a word was spoken as we went past the still burning WTC. It was a horrible and surreal sight. We walked, looking for those 4 clients.
Cops, smoke, soot, guns and security everywhere. Twice, we got into “secure” areas and the cops asked how we got there. We didn’t know — we were just walking. Streets totally empty. Businesses closed. It was unbelievable. Back at VRI the next day and we still hadn’t heard from 1 customer — the Port Authority, who operated the WTC. I was there when we got the call from Katie from the Port. She was alive. LOTS of tears all around. A horrible time that VRI will never forget.
VRI was Port Authority's offsite data storage company. Jim Crisci the manager wrote this for a LinkedIn post.
I was Port Authority's data manager at that time.
Katie Peko
