World Trade Center: A Case Study

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The World Trade Center terrorist attack was the most destructive and costly terrorist event in United States history. Not including the 19 terrorist, 2974 people were killed. The economic impact to New York City is estimated between $83 and $95 billion (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2014). Sixteen acres of lower Manhattan were leveled including both World Trade center towers and several surrounding buildings (Disaster Assistance, 2003). The attacks disabled major electrical and communications facilities and damage transportation infrastructure. Many residents of the lower Manhattan area were left temporarily homeless and unemployed.
In order to assist New York in the recovery process, Congress approved $20 billion in federal funding with FEMA providing $7.4 billion in public assistance programs (Disaster assistance). The money spent by FEMA not only went towards public assistance, but also to the removal of debris, rebuilding of
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An estimated 3.1 million hours were spent over nine months by workers who removed 1.6 million tons of debris from the World Trade Center site. Debris from the towers extended seven stories into the ground and were as high as 11 stories in some places (Disaster Assistance, 2003). What made the debris removal even more difficult was the need to sort through it for the remains and personal effects of victims and possible criminal evidence. FEMA provided $72 million to the Army Corps of Engineers to manage the debris inspection process (Disaster Assistance, 2003).
The public transportation system in Lower Manhattan was used by about 80% of the 350,000 daily commuters (Disaster Assistance, 2003). The attacks on the World Trade Center severely damaged this system. In a joint venture with the Department of Transportation, FEMA provided $2.8 billion to help repair this system. The money was used to repair subway stations, tunnels, and