In my point of view, 911 was the biggest disaster that could happen to America. When I first saw it on television, I really thought it was some kind of disastrous scenario. You know, like nuclear scenario.
After realizing what was really going on, I took the phone and called a cousin of mine who lives down Manhattan. Actually, he works in Tower one as a stockbroker. I left a message asking him to call back as soon as possible. I also try is cellular phone, but no answer. At 9h00 pm he called me and told me what was going on and that everything was upside down in New York. During our conversation, he did explain to me that he couldn’t call earlier because all IT services were shut down because of national security. Everything in America was shut down and only National Security was allowed to use IT services.
The impact was tremendous. We couldn’t even make a call to anyone. Can you imagine for a second what you could be thinking in a situation like this? The fact of knowing you might have relatives caught in such a disaster that you can look up on television is the worst thing that could ever happen to somebody. Where were they? Where are they hiding? Are they still alive? Was my cousin working at that specific time? And badly enough, not having any IT services to contact him.
A few months later, I saw this documentary about 911 and how it did affect us, here in Canada. The whole flying network was shut down. No flights were allowed in the country. Actually, one flight was still in the air and it was because the Vice-Premier, The Honorable John Manley was in it. He only had a working cell phone because he was in constant contact with the Premier, The Honorable Jean Chrétien.
After realizing what was really going on, I took the phone and called a cousin of mine who lives down Manhattan. Actually, he works in Tower one as a stockbroker. I left a message asking him to call back as soon as possible. I also try is cellular phone, but no answer. At 9h00 pm he called me and told me what was going on and that everything was upside down in New York. During our conversation, he did explain to me that he couldn’t call earlier because all IT services were shut down because of national security. Everything in America was shut down and only National Security was allowed to use IT services.
The impact was tremendous. We couldn’t even make a call to anyone. Can you imagine for a second what you could be thinking in a situation like this? The fact of knowing you might have relatives caught in such a disaster that you can look up on television is the worst thing that could ever happen to somebody. Where were they? Where are they hiding? Are they still alive? Was my cousin working at that specific time? And badly enough, not having any IT services to contact him.
A few months later, I saw this documentary about 911 and how it did affect us, here in Canada. The whole flying network was shut down. No flights were allowed in the country. Actually, one flight was still in the air and it was because the Vice-Premier, The Honorable John Manley was in it. He only had a working cell phone because he was in constant contact with the Premier, The Honorable Jean Chrétien.
So even here in Canada, 911 had a huge impact on IT. It means one big thing : IT is an important part of our lives nowadays and we really depend on it whatever the circumstances.
JC
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