[Mb-civic] Attacks' Legacy: Simmering Fear - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Attacks' Legacy: Simmering Fear
Nagging Feelings of Vulnerability and Unease About the Future Remain

By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 11, 2005; Page C01

Diane Rokos of Rosslyn still eyeballs inbound jetliners to make sure 
their landing gear are down. The hijacked airplanes, she seems to 
recall, were bound for destruction with their wheels up.

Scott Smit of Falls Church still has a two-week stash of food and water 
in his garage, an escape plan and a family rendezvous point in the Blue 
Ridge mountains.

Dawn Caskie of McLean still checks out every person boarding the 
airplane when she flies and keeps a road atlas in her car in case she 
has to flee an attack.

Four years and multiple catastrophes after Sept. 11, 2001, mental health 
experts and area residents say that although 9/11 might seem eclipsed by 
other events and forgotten by the public, its complex of fear remains 
just beneath the surface -- ready to trigger instantly.

Shoes still must come off in airport security lines, although booties 
often are available for those who don't want their feet to get dirty.

Metro riders who once abided by an unspoken code to keep their eyes 
straight ahead now scan one another warily, urged by disembodied 
announcements to watch, mostly in vain, for sinister activity and packages.

"I hate it," said Sandy Green of the District. "It is very un-Metro. 
Everybody [usually] sticks to themselves very, very carefully. And we 
have to be nosy now."

Signs along the interstates command: "Report Suspicious Activity." False 
alarms proliferate. Fighters are scrambled to pursue stray Cessnas. The 
Capitol is evacuated. The threat level is adjusted up, then down.

And real disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, seem to trigger the 
anxiety anew.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/AR2005091001111.html?referrer=email
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