CALIFORNIA

Empty streets where cars rule

By Lynda Gorov, Globe Staff, 9/12/2001

OS ANGELES - The carnage was straight out of a Hollywood movie, except Hollywood was mostly closed yesterday.

The entire state of California was at a near standstill. Governor Gray Davis ordered government buildings emptied across the state. In Los Angeles, studio employees were sent home. Police officers logged overtime. In a city ruled by the automobile, the streets were eerily empty midafternoon. Even Disneyland was deserted, shut down for the day.

Three of the hijacked airplanes were bound for Los Angeles International Airport. A fourth was en route to San Francisco. Locals braced themselves for confirmation that some of their own were among the dead.

''There seems to be a looming unknown hovering over the city and everyone,'' said Mark Tessler, 36, a landscape architect in Venice, Calif., who canceled a business meeting to leave work early. ''Every time I see a truck drive down the street, I think, `What's in the truck?' Just the simplest urban sounds startle me.''

The apparent terrorist attacks had federal law enforcement officials in Los Angeles on high alert, with the FBI mobilizing its counterterrorism squad. Local police and the county sheriff activated their own early terrorism warning groups. Twenty or so bomb threats proved false, authorities said.

At San Francisco International Airport, bomb-sniffing dogs patrolled the rapidly emptying hallways. In Los Angeles, passengers stood in line to change their reservations, until the airport was closed and emptied shortly after 9:15 a.m.

By then, grief counselors from the Salvation Army were on their way. Security officers surrounded two or three relatives of the presumed victims, leading them upstairs to a room where they could grieve in private. It was unknown how many family members came to the airport throughout the day.

''Our procedure is just to be there for the families, to be there as long as necessary, to do whatever possible,'' said Lieutenant Colonel Al Van Cleef of the Salvation Army.

Outside the terminal, Cormac Murray huddled against the wall, wondering how he would survive in Los Angeles with just $30 in his pocket. Murray, a 21-year-old college student, had been headed home to Limerick, Ireland, via New York. He said he would still board a flight if possible. It wasn't. The FAA had grounded all flights across the nation for the day.

''Of course we're stunned by it, but I'd get on a plane, no problem,'' Murray said. ''We're used to this in Ireland.''

William Solomon, a General Motors product engineer who retired to California from Michigan, wanted to get home, too. He had been on an Alaska cruise, and only learned of the hijackings when his plane landed safely.

''It seems like we're under attack,'' said Solomon, 74. ''I just want to get home.''

Ports in California also operated under heightened security yesterday, with Coast Guard inspections of ships entering Long Beach and Los Angeles. The US Navy restricted access to eight of its bases along California's coast.

The Capitol in Sacramento was closed, as were the Federal Building and City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. So was the Museum of Tolerance. Some crossings along the US-Mexico border were also sealed.

Last night's second annual Latin Grammys were postponed. Sunday's 53rd annual Prime-Time Emmy Awards were also delayed.

''I was like, `Get me out of here,''' said Angela Nalu, who was supposed to start her first day of work at Los Angeles' 74-story Library Tower, also closed. ''There was so much tension in the room. Everybody was trying to do their work and get out.''

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

This story ran on page A10 of the Boston Globe on 9/12/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.