September in the blast and the fire alarms did not sound. Occupants attempting to seek information from the 911 emergency dispatch center were stymied by a system that was overwhelmed by calls.
……. Once the evacuation began, a number of obstacles were encountered. Without operational elevators, the only exit was through stairwells, which had no lighting and were rapidly filling with smoke. Responders, who typically relied on elevators for rescues in skyscrapers, were forced to enter the same crowded, smoke-filled stairwells and climb more than 100 stories. Firefighters' jobs were further complicated by their reliance on radios that were not powerful enough to operate effectively in such large buildings. Additionally, so many firefighters were attempting to use the same channel at one time that communications became unintelligible.
……. In the years following the 1993 bombing, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which managed the operation of the World Trade Center, spent $100 million on structural improvements, power systems, emergency preparedness, and safety and security systems. Included in these improvements were elements meant to decrease evacuation times, including biannual fire drills, the formation of employee fire teams to facilitate evacuations, and additional lighting in stairwells. A radio repeater tower was also erected on top of WTC 5, aimed at increasing the effectiveness of firefighter communication within the building complex. Additionally, New York City established the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), located in WTC 7, to coordinate responses to major disasters.
…… Sadly, the 1993 bombing would not be the last attack by Sunni militants on the World Trade Center. Osama Bin Ladin, leader of the al Qaeda international terrorist group, admired the bombing's mastermind, Omar Abdel Rahman, and shared his desire to attack U.S. citizens and interests. Throughout the 1990s, Bin Ladin's organization had carried out a number of bombings against U.S. facilities and personnel in the Middle East, in an attempt to combat U.S. influence in the region. In a 1998 interview, Bin Ladin suggested that if what he saw as “ American injustice ” against Muslims was to continue, he would move “the