The unsung story of how hundreds of thousands were rescued by the NY/NJ maritime community as the Twin Towers burned

Boats converge on lower Manhattan to help evacuate thousands on Sept. 11, 2001. Twenty years later, it remains one of the lesser-known stories of 9/11. Courtesy of the New York Police Department

By Brittney Davie, Joe Atmonavage, and Matthew Stanmyre NJ.com

It was midmorning, but the air was black as midnight. Sirens and alarms wailed, echoing down ghostly streets, and dazed, ash-covered people, screamed as they scrambled in all directions.

Karen Lacey was among them, stumbling through throngs along the lower Manhattan waterfront, edging her way toward the cold, choppy waters of the Hudson River.

Fleeing from the dense dust in the aftermath of the collapse of the south tower of the World Trade Center and fearing she would be crushed by the debris, Lacey believed she had only one chance to save her life.

As the Twin Towers fell, the maritime community would rescue and transport an estimated 400,000 people off the island of Manhattan to New Jersey and elsewhere. Courtesy of the New York City Police Department

She climbed over the steel railing alongside the river.

“Lady, don’t jump!” a police officer yelled.

But in the heavy smoke and clouds of ash and dust, the air turned from gray to pitch-black and she immediately lost sight of him.

She jumped.

Gasping, her arms and legs fighting the fierce current, her clothes and Coach bag dragging her toward the bottom, Lacey swallowed gobs of dark, smoky air, trembling in the 60-degree water.

As she worked the dire odds in her head, determined to swim to New Jersey, a voice called out through the smoke.

“Is there anyone in the water?”

Read the full dramatic story here with additional photos and videos