The Portland International Airport was evacuated this morning before allowing airlines to re-open for business, but many airlines will likely not resume flights until Thursday, Wednesday evening at the earliest. Meantime, the Oregon Air National Guard is flying patrols over the region, and blood donation centers are open and making a special request for rare blood types.
All federal buildings in Portland were closed yesterday following the attack. Although no official word has been received, those buildings are expected to reopen later this morning. Several other Downtown buildings that closed -- Ben Franklin Plaza, One Pacific Square, Wells Fargo and the local World Trade Center -- also are open for business today, as are regional shopping malls that also shut down.
Meanwhile, imminent and upcoming local and national sporting events have been cancelled, including a Portland Timbers playoff game, Pac-10 football games this weekend and Major League Baseball for the second day in a row. The Coast Guard also has cancelled a disaster training event planned for Portland today.
At 10 a.m. yesterday, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and Portland Mayor Vera Katz, assured television viewers that "nothing we have heard would indicate that this city is in a direct or immediate threat. We have opened an emergency operations center to continue to assess possible threats."
Hijacked airplanes struck the 110-story WTC buildings, which subsequently collapsed onto the streets of Manhattan along with a third WTC building. A section of Pentagon also has been destroyed by an airplane, and a fire still burns there this morning. Government officials are describing the attack as the worst in U.S. history. Thousands of people are believed dead and injured. "The U.S. will hunt down and punish those responsible," says President Bush.
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