The first thing you need to do when disaster strikes in an urban setting is recognize that something is wrong, and get out of the building. If you are wrong and nothing is happening, you can always go back inside, but if there really is a problem and need to escape, you don’t want to be trapped in a burning high-rise building. For a recent example, note the high-rise fire in London.
Escape From New York: Decide Fast
Once you are out of the building, get out of the way. You don’t want to be in between a burning building and a fire truck. In both of my escapes, I made the decision to leave the building, and eventually the city, in less than 30 seconds from when I sensed something was wrong. Note I say “sensed”. I did not confirm a problem, I just left.
When disaster strikes in New York City, TPTB will do everything they can to make leaving slow and difficult. They will close all tunnels, and there are only three ways off the island, tunnels, bridges and ferry. Otherwise, I hope you are an excellent swimmer. 😊
Escape From New York: The Tunnels
The tunnels include both train and car tunnels. If the power goes out, the electric trains will stop running, so those are out. During 9/11 the power remained on until the buildings collapsed, at which point all the power south of Canal Street went out. At the time of collapse, damage resulted in water filling the PATH train tunnels as well. Want to be in a tunnel under the Hudson river with the water coming in?
The car tunnels were blocked by cops preventing any cars or busses from entering or leaving. The primary purpose of cops in the world is to screw up traffic. It’s what they do. ☹ Murphy requires that they go into action during a disaster, giving Manhattan that Kurt Russell movie feel.
Escape From New York: Bridges
You could walk across the Brooklyn bridge, but if you live in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, that is the wrong direction. As a result, it is a possibility for getting away from whatever caused you to evacuate, but it won’t get you home quickly, . . . unless you happen to live in Brooklyn.
Escape From New York: The Ferry
Your final option is the ferry. On a normal day, the ferries carry fewer passengers than the bridges and tunnels, but in each of the recent disasters they have continued to run and help people get across the river and eventually home.
When escaping NYC, it is to your advantage to get to the nearest ferry as quickly as possible, because lines will form due to the unusual number of people trying to use the ferry during a disaster.
The ferries have stepped up in each disaster, but they remain a bottleneck if other routes out of the city are closed due to limited capacity. During 9/11 private boats also pitched in to help people off the island. The boat crews were unsung heroes during 9/11.
Escape From New York: Supplies
If you have been forced to evacuate without your bag, take the time to procure water and a bit of food when the opportunity arises. New York has lots of food carts on the sidewalks, selling drinks, hot dogs, pretzels, etc.
During 9/11 I bought water and a snack from a food cart about 4 blocks from the WTC, while the WTC was on fire. In other cities, if you don’t have the food carts, you can still get water and a snack in the ubiquitous Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts chains. You probably work within a block of one or the other.
If you had to leave without your coat, and need some warmth, enter any place that sells clothing and get a baseball or watch cap, and a sweat shirt. It is okay if they both say “I Love NY” or something similarly stupid.
You won’t be loving NY at the moment. You’ll never wear them again. 9/11 had beautiful weather so nothing of this sort was required during my escapes.
Once you are off the island, your rush for the exit is over, depending on the nature of the disaster.
Toss the headphones that come with this radio and get some ear buds.
Escape From New York: Paranoid Phone Home
At some point, you are going to be standing in line waiting for the ferry, or finally across the river, and you’ll want to let your loved ones know you are okay. The phone circuits will be jammed with others trying to do the same thing, so don’t stress over it.
Try a text message, which may get through when your call won’t. The 9/11 disaster took out 10 cell towers and a Verizon switching station with 400,000 lines making calling impossible in the immediate area. I couldn’t get a connection on the New Jersey coast either.
Similarly, this is a good time to dig out your little radio and try to get some news. I hadn’t started carrying one of these on 9/11, but I do today. Trust me, you won’t know what is going on. On 9/11, I didn’t know what had caused the World Trade Center disaster until 6:30pm, more than 9 hours after the event. You can’t see a plane hitting the building if you are inside the building. ☹
Escape From New York: A Map Would Help
In both of my escapes I wound up in unfamiliar locations on the New Jersey side. A map would have been handy. Smart phones with maps were not yet in vogue.
Once you are across the river, you can assess your transportation options. Your choices are going to be influenced by the nature of the disaster, what is running, where you are along the People’s Republic of New Jersey coastline, and where home is. In my two escapes, I found myself having to do significant walking to get to the NJ Transit train station on the New Jersey side in Hoboken.
Last fall there was a train wreck in Hoboken about 20 minutes after I went through the station. They are still fixing it.
Escape From New York: Variables
On 9/11 the NJ Transit trains were running fine, and I was able to catch a train and ultimately got home after a 6-hour door to door commute.
The blackout however, was regional, which meant our NJ Transit electric train line was not running. I ran into my next-door neighbor at the train station, who offered me a ride. He had already called for someone to pick him up. This turned into another problem as all the traffic lights were out, and when the ride showed up, they were almost out of gas. The result was a rather confused ride home.
Warning! When you ask someone from outside the disaster area to pick you up, tell them to top off their gas tank! However, even if they run out of gas, each mile they covered puts one that much closer to home. Beggars can’t be choosers.
Despite the problems with transportation, the train station and the surrounding neighborhood were a good place to get more food and water on both occasions. Business districts have plenty of food choices, and a disaster is an excellent time to rack up sales.
Escape From New York: The Walk
In a pinch, you may find yourself walking all the way home. As it was, I walked about 6 miles in both disasters, some on each side of the river, just to get to where I found transportation. If forced to walk all the way home it would be a couple day trek.
Assuming we are not talking about an EMP that has fried your phone and disabled all the cars, consider following the train lines as the stations are key locations to be if the trains resume running, or if someone is going to pick you up, a location to meet. Bus stations can serve the same purpose. However, transit stops may not be the most direct route as the crow flies.
In both of my escapes, once I got home, everything was fine. I was out of the disaster area. Note that I did not have to extricate myself from a damaged building or area by climbing over debris, nor did I have to spend the night outside or in transit, but I have gloves, watch cap, and paracord in my desk cache just in case. I also benefitted from excellent weather on both occasions. A large trash bag would be appreciated in case of rain, or can just be used to carry stuff accumulated along the way.
General Lessons
While most major cities are not built on islands, they do tend to have rivers, and you may have bridges or other choke points between you and where you want to be. Try to get past these obstacles rapidly. Consider your options before disaster strikes.
Prepare as best you can, but if you need to abandon your stuff, don’t hesitate to do so. You don’t want to be inside a burning building, or otherwise place yourself in unnecessary danger, just to save a drawstring bag and a pair of shoes, or even a well-stocked BOB. You can acquire more stuff as you move, especially if you have cash.
Try to get information about what is going on, but don’t waste a lot of time on the problem. Do that when you are stuck waiting. Be ready to change plans as new facts emerge.
Above all, stay calm. You will make the best decisions if you have a clear head.
