BOATLIFT – An Untold Tale of 9/11

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In the largest-ever sea evacuation in history, boats of all types and sizes evacuated 500,000 people from Lower Manhattan in the wake of World Trade Center’s collapse on 9/11. With trains, tunnels, bridges and airports shut down, people were trapped on the island of Manhattan with no viable means of leaving.

Hundreds of thousands of people swarmed to the riverfront as the US Coast Guard sent out a call for boats to rescue those frantic to escape the destruction. The fall of the towers was seen by many as just the beginning of a coordinated attack on New York City.

In a mere nine hours, boats streaming into New York Harbor from all over the Northeast evacuated 500,000 people across the river to New Jersey. Compare that with history’s second-biggest evacuation: It took 9 days (June 26 through June 3 1940) to move 339,000 soldiers and civilians from Dunkirk, France across the English Channel to Great Britain during WW II.

This recently released short film narrated by Tom Hanks tells the story of this little known miracle on 9/11.

Double click video to watch full screen.

http://youtu.be/18lsxFcDrjo?hd=1

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