9/11 Attacks Had Lasting Impact on NEMA Conference Policies
Attendees in 2001 Recall Cooperation & Professionalism
By Jordan Bradley & Todd McElwee
On September 11, 2001, government and industry emergency specialists, including Joe Allbaugh, then-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—gathered at the Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Montana, for the annual meeting of the National Emergency Managers Association (NEMA).
Soon after breakfast, attendees’ pagers began beeping, alerting conference attendees to the news of a terrorist attack in New York City, according to Raven Rock author Garrett M. Graff. When the circumstances became clear, staff at the resort quickly assembled an impromptu command center, moving extra TVs and phones into the conference center for the 350 attendees to coordinate responses and arrange transportation home.
According to a report from the New York Times published the day after the 9/11 attacks, roads were closed to the Big Sky Resort, and many attendees were needed elsewhere—most significantly Allbaugh and Ed Jacoby, the chief of the New York State Emergency Management Office.
Karen Langdon, NEMA Marketing and Events Director, was present at the conference, she told USAE via email, along with NEMA Executive Director Trina Sheets.
When asked what she remembered of the day, Langdon said the group’s act of coming together and their collective professionalism under the circumstances stood out to her.
Representatives from Big Sky Montana Resort were unable to accommodate an interview request from. USAE by press deadline. However, the resort played a pivotal role in the response to the 9/11 attacks, hosting the impromptu command center in the property’s ballroom.
“The group immediately went to work establishing an emergency operations center-type setup in the hotel ballroom to provide visibility and awareness about the event with attendees, share information, and help coordinate the national response,” she added.
Langdon recalled representatives from FEMA and the U.S. Department of Transportation helping to “coordinate travel home for State Emergency Management Directors. They arranged for the New York State Emergency Management Director to fly back on a fighter jet. A C-130 plane was arranged to transport all of the Directors whose states were responding as well as those in nearby regions. Some governors sent National Guard planes to pick up their directors.”
Reflecting on the day 25 years later, Langdon and Sheets said the group’s cooperation extended beyond the initial day and into attendees’ travel homeward.
“It was a deeply shocking and emotional event for everyone, but the group came together to support one another and ensure everyone had a plan to get home,” they said. “We even implemented a phone buddy system in which people driving cross-country would check in with each other and report back on their progress homeward.”
While 9/11 reshaped American culture at large, it also influenced the way NEMA held conferences going forward. In the wake of the 2001 conference, the association created emergency protocols and a scalable plan that is regularly reviewed and updated ahead of each meeting, Langdon said. Because NEMA members are the first to respond to a disaster of any origin around the country, Langdon added, portions of the emergency protocols and response plans have been implemented in part over the years.
“Since disasters can occur at any time and in any region of the country, we have implemented portions of the plan at subsequent meetings, but not to the extent needed for the 2001 Annual Forum in Big Sky,” she said.