Sep/Oct 2006

Lessons of 9/11

How ready is Hampton Roads for a terrorist attack?

By Patrick Evans-Hylton

Five years ago, Hampton Roads woke up to a picture-perfect morning. The heat of the summer was behind the region, and cool air greeted residents as they woke and went about their daily routines. The sky was powder blue, accented only by an occasional cloud or two. Autumn colors were starting to show in the trees across the area.

Hundreds of miles away, four jets departed Boston, Newark and Washington-Dulles airports, and shortly thereafter, everyone's picture-perfect morning turned into one of shock, grief and uncertainty.

On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans are still uncertain. Throughout the past few years, we've heard of numerous thwarted efforts to again reign terror on the nation, including a plot by U.S. citizen Jose Padilla to detonate a dirty bomb, an attempt by British citizen Richard Reid to blow up a Miami-bound jet with a bomb hidden in his shoe, and most recently, plans by up to two dozen Britons to mix a lethal cocktail of chemicals in-flight and destroy 10-plus airliners flying trans-Atlantic from London to the United States.

It's left many wondering not if, but when, the next attack will occur. And in Hampton Roads, it has many contemplating if one could happen here.

The fact is, the Hampton Roads area is known to terrorists. Looking back to 9/11, hijackers Mohammed Atta, who is believed to have been the pilot of the plane that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, and accomplice, Marwan al-Shehhi, rented a mailbox in Virginia Beach in early 2001. Later, in April of that year, the pair stayed in the Diplomat Inn at the Oceanfront and cashed an $8,000 check at SunTrust in the resort city.

"Some say based on the high volume of military presence in the Hampton Roads area, we are more at risk of a terrorist attack," says Pete Sommer, Hampton Emergency Management coordinator. "What scenario is most likely? The one the potential terrorists believe will produce results they want to achieve. To suggest one method over another is perhaps ill-advised in that it may distract resources or focus away from the bigger picture."-

For the rest of this story, see the Sep/Oct 2006 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine, currently available on newsstands.