Yes.. life seems crazy now. The White House and Congress in disarray.. people actively writing op-eds against the leader of the free world in the New York TIMES.. Chaos? Sure…Plus… And a hurricane, Florence, looming in the Atlantic, poised to potentially strike the East Coast….. Unprecedented?
Think back for a moment..
Dateline 1814: While the British red coats were in the midst of burning down the White House, the Library of Congress, and other governmental institutions, President James Madison had to evacuate. His wife, Dolley, the first lady of the United States, stood in the White House until she knew for sure that a painting of General Washington was safe.
The nation was in a standstill. President Madison in a panic about how he would reconvene the government and make the central system work again. On August 25 of 1814, with a glowing red flame in the sky above D.C., nature’s wrath stepped in. The ‘storm of providence,’ as it was dubbed, hit the nation’s Capitol. A fierce wind, perhaps even a small hurricane as some speculate, moved inland. British soldiers reportedly had to lay down in order not to be blown away.
A tornado—yes, and maybe more than one twister—formed and moved directly through the city. The blinding rains put out the fires the Brits had set. Legend has it that when British soldiers, while retreating, asked what kind of storms are in this country, someone replied that it was Providence to drive the enemies from the young nation.
If the war of 1812’s conclusion was settled in part by the hand of God, then where was providence on September 11, 2001? ….or perhaps the work of the hands of the devil …..?
The longest living storm to ever have formed did so in the Atlantic Ocean on September 1, 2001. The hurricane was named Erin. I always recall this fondly because it was my sister’s name….. I reminded her daily that month that she was poised to destroy…..
It was weak at first, and continued to both strengthen and weaken during its lifespan in the open waters. At one point, Erin fell apart and dissipated on September 5 of that year, only to reform again and whirl back into a sizable wave.
On September 9, 2001, Erin strengthened itself into a major hurricane. It passed by Bermuda 105 miles east.. It turned. It began to barrel itself directly for the city that never sleeps NEW YORK CITY.. Satellite of the storm is chilling. Erin is massive and swirls right off the East Coast of the United States.
Three hours before the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 began, Hurricane Erin took an immediate and obvious U-Turn away from New York City.
Repeating myself on purpose, where was Providence the way it was there in 1814 during the attack on D.C.?
There are abundant conspiracy theories as to why the hurricane took a quick turn. Some speculate it was HAARP, weather malfeasance. Theories are fun. But weather is still weather. Things still happen.
Conspiracy theories aside, the simple truth: A very strong cold front moved through the Eastern part of the United States, including New York City, and forced the storm to bounce away from the United States like it was on a pool table. It was that same cold front that prompted the Northeast and New York City to have one of the most beautiful days that ever existed in history weather wise, September 11, 2001.
Those who were alive and recall what happened 17 years ago –my God, 17 years already!—may also recall the beautiful weather across the nation. I live in the same location I did then, Eastern Pennsylvania. I remember the autumnal feel in the air that morning. The sun was brilliant and the skies were deep blue. It was a picture perfect day. It was actually quite possibly one of the most beautiful weather days I recall in my entire life. It was completely ruined and disjointed forever, however, by the acts of cruelty and terror as mostly Saudi hijackers boarded planes in the United States and crashed them into buildings.
If a chain of events did not occur, history may have been altered. It is really strange to contemplate that. But picture a slower cold front.. picture a hurricane that, suddenly, moves into New York City with whipping winds and flooding rains.
Truth be told, there was not much preparation for Erin or even news coverage. I challenge you to go back and find any information of the city preparing for evacuation. Every prediction was clear: The strong Canadian cold front was going to ruin the chances of peril due to a storm.
Nature’s wrath never occurred that day. Instead, God’s brilliant sun beamed down from blue skies over burning buildings and people committing suicide by jumping as opposed to burning to death.
If Erin would have come closer … or even struck .. planes would have been grounded. People would have been moved out from their homes. 9/11 would have become famous for an entirely different reason.
Providence, perhaps, would have prevented something that we never even would have known was going to occur.
But none of that happened.
Erin did not slam land, but instead rolled away and paved the way for one of the most disastrous days in history since Pearl Harbor.
Or even since 1814..
# # #
Seventeen years ago this September I was working full time as a waiter, staying up very late every night listening to Art Bell until sunrise, and having the time of my life, drinking BUD ICE ((ugh)). I just turned 21. I was invincible, as other 21 years olds are when they hit that age. Life doesn’t really happen yet.
My father woke me up that morning and told me we were attacked.. early on, he blamed the Chinese!
He was from a time when nations struck, not group of extremists or those aligned with others in the darkness of terror. We watched live on TV as more buildings were attacked, the Pentagon was hit, and as a plane fell from the sky about three hours from my house.
If you look at the flight path records for the hijacked planes on 9/11, at least 1 would have flown above the county I live in as it did a U-turn back before crashing into Shanksville PA.
We filled our car tanks with gas due to fear of price gouging. There was a lot of fear that day. The entire nation had a sense of shell shock, an immediate and confusing reaction that, while knowing things changed, not really knowing yet how they did.
That night I watched George W. Bush, updated my website via FTP on dial up, and never went to sleep. The coverage took over every channel. Every bit of life. Every thing. A few days later, Bush stepped on a heap of carnage in New York with a megaphone. The nation rallied behind war. And today we wonder how we stepped into the nightmare scenario of ISIS and Middle Eastern chess match madness.
It all began there.
It all happened when weather did NOT strike. Providence did not happen…..
There is some strange coincidence in a way… as Hurricane Erin u-turned and paved the way for terror, the hijacked flights away from New York and Boston were also in the middle of u-turning as well.
The stage was set as Erin’s path towards the United States was halted because of a cold front…
And the rest was history.
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