County feels effects of N.Y., Washington terrorist attacks

By Lynn Hotaling, Rose Hooper and Lisa Majors-Duff

State school officials, holding a planning session at the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, decided to cancel today's (Thursday) session at Scotts Creek in favor of an earlier return to their statewide responsibilities, said Jackson County Superintendent of Schools Mack McCary.

"I was at NCCAT this morning when the news came in," McCary said of Tuesday's (Sept. 11) surprise attacks that leveled both towers of the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. "My impression is that the people there were in a state of shock and really felt the need to get back to their responsibilities in Raleigh, where they can be more available to the state as a whole."

Locally, McCary said, schools proceeded on a normal schedule Tuesday despite the attacks, which were apparently accomplished with hijacked aircraft.

Counselors are available at all county schools to help students who are afraid in the wake of the tragedy, McCary said.

"This is a tragic day for America, especially for the families directly affected by these acts of terrorism," U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor said in a prepared statement. "We will not be intimidated. We will take whatever action is necessary to insure that our country remains free, and we will use our intelligence sources and technological means to protect the lives of our citizens.

"We must be careful not to overreact or be cowed, but our nation will take the steps necessary to protect our national security and take measured action ensuring the punishment of those responsible for these actions," the congressman continued.

"Today's attacks were directed at the symbols of American economic power - the World Trade Center towers - and at the symbol of American military power - the Pentagon," he said. "It does not appear that any attacks were directed at other parts of the country.

"I encourage prayer for the victims and their families and prayer for our nation," Taylor said. "Today's events are so horrific that it goes beyond surreal," Jay Denton, chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, said Tuesday. "It's beyond imaginable."

Local emergency management personnel are operating with what Jackson County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Ensley termed a "heightened sense of awareness."

"The word from Raleigh is that we are in the alert mode at the state level," Ensley said Tuesday afternoon. "Locally, we're not on alert, but we are watching for unusual or out-of-the-ordinary events."

Ensley said he is keeping all emergency services personnel advised of events as they happen. "Any reported threats will be taken seriously," Ensley said.

Savannah's Smart Growth meeting scheduled for Tuesday was also cancelled, said Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland.

An urgent request for blood donations was also issued by the American Red Cross on Tuesday afternoon.

"In response to the recent tragedies in our nation, the American Red Cross Carolina's Blood Service Region has shipped 600 units of blood via ground courier to Baltimore for either New York or Washington, D.C.," said Dr. John Armitage, medical director of the Carolinas Blood Service Region.

In an effort to assist victims of the terrorist attack, the American Red Cross has requested that all persons able give blood this Friday, Sept. 14, from 1-6 p.m. at the Community Service Center in Sylva.

Across the state, Army and Air Force National Guard troops are on a "heightened state of security in light of the current national crisis," said Col. Baron Hignite of National Guard state headquarters in Raleigh.

Every armory across the state is being manned, Hignite said, including the 210th in Webster. Personnel are standing by at both the National Guard state headquarters and Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, Hignite said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no threats had been reported in the state, Hignite said. During a briefing at the Emergency Operations Center at 1 p.m., National Guard personnel were told that there is no known national threat in North Carolina, he said.

National and state flags around the county were lowered to half staff Tuesday, where they remained throughout most of the day Wednesday in honor of those who lost their lives in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania, the site of a fourth alleged hijacking and plane crash Tuesday morning.

"I felt so helpless, like what could I do? I have no control over the federal government so this is the one thing I, as an individual, can do," said Dottie Hoche, owner of Worldly Possessions, who put up a sign reading "USA, Respond with Prayer" outside her downtown Sylva business.

"So many people have stopped in and told me, 'Thank you.' I really believe in prayer as a positive, creative energy force. The more of us who pray, the more forceful our energy," she said.

Don and JoAnn Palmer's niece, Christina Maddalone, was on the 60th floor of the northern 110-story World Trade Center's twin tower when evacuation of the building began. She relayed what she saw to her Sylva relatives.

"Chrissy said she just happened to turn around - a little before 10 a.m. - and saw the southern tower collapse. She rushed out into the street, fighting to see, along with the mobs of frantic people and the black, choking smoke, and raced 15 miles to Brooklyn before she dared stop or turn around," JoAnn Palmer said.

"Chrissy just got out of college and was working for Dean Witter, and she just happened to be at the World Trade Center for a training session," said Don Palmer, a Sylva plumber.

Webster resident Sue Monroe, currently teaching at Hunter College in New York City, called friends back home to tell them all of her family had survived the attacks. Her daughter, Amy Monroe Epps, is in emergency management and was called to the scene of the World Trade Center disaster.

"Amy ended up in the hospital, Beth Israel, I think, but thank goodness she is alive," said Webster resident Joe Rhinehart after Monroe's phone call.

Arriving at Melton-Riddle Funeral Home just before 9 a.m., Thomasine Riddle turned on the television and "couldn't believe my eyes. I watched that plane as it came towards the World Trade Center, and I kept thinking, 'Well, it's going to move,' but, of course, it didn't. Talk about a disaster and a half.

"It was so well orchestrated. The FBI was training in California; the president was in Florida; Colin Powell was in Peru. Think about it. And think about how the hijackers got through security at the airport," said Riddle, who has relatives in the military, which has been called in on alert.

At lunchtime Tuesday, customers crowded around two television sets at the Rare Bear Restaurant.

"It wasn't just the stuffed cornbread and soup beans special that drew me in," said Jerry King, executive director of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority. "It's because they have a TV."

"Today 911 took on a whole new meaning," said Sylva firefighter Harold Norman. "Years from now, when you hear '911' you won't just think emergency, you'll remember back to what you were doing on Sept. 11 (9-11), 2001."

Back to Archive: 09/13/01.