A 9-11 story you might not have heard...500K rescued from lower Manhattan in epic boatlift

[True Earthling]

Bigger than the evacuation at Dunkirk...in less than 9 hrs.

"When American people need to come together and pull together... they will do it"

Tom Hanks narrates the epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lsxFcDrjo&feature=player_embedded#

[lunatica]

1. I saw something about that on the History Channel last weekend

People rally when needed.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. America's Dunkirk.

Very moving story.

[jannyk]

2. When I read your title, I thought it was $500k . I'm more cynical than I thought.

[grasswire]

3. well, wasn't there a boatload of gold stored in the WTC?

I'll have to look it up.

[bpcmxr]

4. Thanks for posting this.

That's how I got off the island that morning.

[charlie and algernon]

5. posting so I can view this after work

[Xithras]

6. "they will do it" Except when FEMA gets in their way and threatens to jail them for trying.

This just reminded me of the stories about the people who tried to drive to NO with their boats after Katrina to help, but were turned away and threatened with arrest if they tried to enter the flooded city.

Nearly 1500 people died in that flooded city. I can't help but wonder how many would have survived if FEMA had just got out of the way and let people help.

[eShirl]

21. +1

[Warpy]

7. I remember it at the time. Ferries, tugboats and even yachts

went into service helping people cross the river into Jersey so they could get home. It was pretty amazing to watch.

[HockeyMom]

12. My daughter's SO worked in Manhattan and lived in NJ

It took her around 6 hours before she could get home to NJ. My daughter was frantic all day because she was unable to reach her on her cell phone. I believe they said the lines were jammed by the sheer volume of calls.

This so affected that woman that she quit her job, went to work in NJ, and it was years before she would ever set foot again in Manhattan. No, she was not in the Towers, or a building close to them.

[gateley]

8. I caught a snip of one of the anniversary pieces -- NBC, maybe? about

this action. The Coast Guard put out a call for all boats who could to come help these people -- it was like an armada! All these craft appeared and kept coming and coming and coming. It's bringing tears to my eyes even know as I type this. Humanity at its finest.

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, True Earthling.

[DURHAM D]

10. Thanks - always good to see the best of us. nt

[smokey nj]

11. Thanks for postng this.

My sister, my brother and my niece's husband were all boatlifted out of Manhattan that day.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. damn...I am crying.

[Gin]

17. didn't know about this....very touching...thanks for posting.

[TorchTheWitch]

19. so am I

Why have I never heard this story after all these years??? I never once heard anything at all about this.

[MicaelS]

15. Absolutely awesome! Thanks so much! n/t

[Historic NY]

16. Amazing story...& then there is the John J Harvey (Marine2) reporting for duty.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=129435&page=1

http://www.fireboat.org/911.asp


— In the panic of Sept. 11, 2001, as tens of thousands of people tried to leave the island of Manhattan, an aging boat once headed for the scrap heap became a hero of sorts.

On 9/11, the John J. Harvey raced to Pier 11, evacuating 150 terrified, dust-covered people.

Then came a second call. Firemen battling blazes at the World Trade Center had no water because the twin towers had fallen on the water lines.

"The water mains were destroyed, so there was no other source of water available, except for the river," said Tim Ivory, a mechanic who is Harvey's engineer.

The fireboat works by sucking in the water it floats on. The Harvey's pumps can shoot 20,000 gallons a minute.

[True Earthling]

18. K&R

[joshcryer]

20. Thanks for posting that, I was completely unaware of this.