This week marks the two-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Attack on America. Since then, the Pentagon (seen at right during reconstruction) has been restored, the Port Authority is getting close to restoring their transportation systems with a new PATH World Trade Center terminal, and the New York Subway’s 1/9 line is again in operation, minus a completed station at Cortlandt Street. And two years down the road from 9/11, I believe that our country is more prepared to handle a disaster of any kind now than before. While many of us were somewhat concerned with President Bush creating a new Department of Homeland Security, with their color-coded terror alert scale, the recent northeastern U.S. power outage proved that Homeland Security has a role, but not as much the terrorism-fighting role. Instead, the “killer app” for Homeland Security is actually in emergency management, just like how the Emergency Broadcast System has never been used for its intended purpose. It was quickly verified that the blackout was not terrorism, but then Homeland Security sprang into action to keep what could have been a very ugly situation, based on previous blackouts, under control. So while many may question some of the things our country does in regards to handling terrorism, you must admit that we’re many times better prepared to handle a disaster of almost any kind than we were before the attacks.
