Remembering 9/11

“It hit home. I lost friends.”

Stephen DeBlasio Sr., who is on Saipan as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s federal coordinating officer after Typhoon Soudelor, was part of the FEMA team who responded to the 9/11 attack 14 years ago today.

According to DeBlasio, he arrived in New York City the Wednesday morning following Sept. 11, 2001, and served as the logistics section chief.

“It fell on me to handle the donations,” DeBlasio told Saipan Tribune.

Trailer loads of stuff were delivered to them and DeBlasio said it was a challenge to distribute them as they didn’t want to congest the roads and bridges.

“Because of the contamination, any vehicle needed to be decontaminated and completely washed down,” DeBlasio said.

They also set up command posts around Ground Zero and leased three piers—Pier 90, 92, and 94—where they set up their centers.

He said communication was completely destroyed during that time and most of them communicated through satellite phones.

“It was a massive operation,” DeBlasio said, noting how responding to the emergency was a whole community effort.

FEMA had its share of criticisms with its response to the 9/11 attack and that led to several internal changes at the agency soon after. Within months, it focused FEMA on issues of national preparedness and homeland security. Billions of dollars of new funding were directed to FEMA to help communities face the threat of terrorism.

On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which for DeBlasio was a good thing as it gave them great change as well as capacity.

Despite the 9/11 attack being a big security issue right in the heart of the U.S. mainland and Typhoon Soudelor causing a natural disaster in a U.S. territory out here in the Western Pacific, DeBlasio said FEMA’s approach to each emergency is the same and that it’s their responsibility to be here.

“We respond with the same level of compassion,” DeBlasio said. “We certainly want to do right by our citizens.”

He noted that Saipan was prepared as best as it could be as the island didn’t suffer any loss of life despite the damage that Soudelor wrought and that made the event “a little less painful.”

According to Marvin Seman, special assistant for Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the CNMI is prepared for eventualities. Even though the Commonwealth has its limitations, with its partners in the federal as well as in neighboring islands such as Guam, it is better equipped.

“We are in a sense prepared,” Seman said. “We have the mechanism.”

Despite the communications breakdown the CNMI experienced in July because of a damaged fiber optic cable, Seman said the islands weren’t really that vulnerable because they have the means—and were able—to communicate with their partners.

Honoring 9/11

With 9/11’s spirit in mind, Seman said, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the servicemen.”

Gov. Eloy S. Inos and Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG Torres also honored the victims and heroes of the 9/11 attack in a statement yesterday.

“On this 14th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, we remember those who lost their lives on that fateful day and take measure of our own lives—our stresses and disappointments—against a tragedy, which ended so many. In the anniversary of tragedy, we celebrate freedom. And in mourning loss, we commemorate life,” the statement said.

“And this year, more than most, we honor the spirit of resilience in the face of disaster,” it added.