I was also thinking about 9/11 in NYC. I taught a memoir course at Gotham Writers' workshop that Fall, and predictably (although I in no way predicted it) many people signed up to write about their experiences on 9/11. My biggest revelation was the huge confusion over not only the cause but also what actually happened--sounds and tremors in the building were interpreted multiple ways at the time. (some people did, including one of my students, think a bomb or bombs had been set off, a fact now used by so-called truthers, but it was just one of many attempts to explain the unprecedented chaos.) It's sometimes even tough to figure out where the damage is, to flee from it. Still, even misguided attempts to flee or hide probably are no worse than just freezing.