American Dunkirk: The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 by James Kendra and Tricia Wachtendorf (review)

Following the attacks on September 11, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated Manhattan on boats. Eclipsed by tragedy, this successful mass evacuation is often overlooked. American Dunkirk: The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 examines the success of this maritime evacuation, drawing from interviews with boat operators and other waterfront workers. Authors Kendra and Wachtendorf were involved in many studies on 9/11 through their positions at the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware. The present study began in 2005, as a follow-up to other research they conducted on 9/11. By directly interviewing these maritime workers, the authors were able to collect rich and evocative stories about the largest maritime evacuation in American history. What makes this case even more remarkable is that these efforts were carried out by civilians with no formal training or instruction. This process challenges the widespread notion that disasters give way to social disorder. The case of these maritime workers shows that altruism and efficiency can and do exist after disasters, but more importantly, American Dunkirk provides an illuminating look into how people collectively define and respond to a traumatic event. Through an analysis of these participants' actions, the authors present an understanding of how people use their own skills and knowledge to respond to disasters.

American Dunkirk explores how this evacuation took place, even though the mariners involved had no preparation. Kendra and Wachtendorf ground their study in the literature on disasters and sensemaking. Specifically, they conceptualize disasters not as singular events, but as social processes. They explain that as an event unfolds, witnesses construct the meaning of an event, and in doing so, establish their role within the event. As such, identity is a critical concept in their analysis; maritime workers, they explain, are taught to heed the distress calls of other boats as part of their occupation. So, to many of these mariners, the needs of the evacuees along the waterfront seemed like a natural extension of their work. Participants in the evacuation volunteered, taking many kinds of boats (ferries, tugboats, dinner cruises, sightseeing boats, etc.) to pick up people in Manhattan and drop them off in New Jersey or Staten Island.

These mariners were part of a network and had worked alongside each other for years. They possessed a shared knowledge of the waterways around Manhattan, which enabled them to work together to conduct this evacuation, but they also maintained their own identities within these networks. Ferry operators, for example, continued doing the same work they would normally do, except under much more distress. Other types of boats had to adapt to the situation. A seasoned tugboatman coordinated the response from four tugboats that were occasionally used during oil spill clean-ups. He suggested that they bring the medical supplies they would take during an oil spill (first aid, water, respirators, blankets), and they moved as much boating equipment out of the way as possible to accommodate the passengers. Though tugboats are not designed to carry large groups of people, they were able to carry many evacuees to safety, using the materials and experience they had. Individuals also identified how their specific skills could provide aid. An ironworker who worked on the New York Waterway noticed that iron fences were blocking the passengers' paths, so he went to work cutting down the fences. Rather than succumb to panic, it seems that these maritime workers focused on their skills to complete tasks to keep themselves and the evacuees safe.

In their conclusion, the authors charge readers with rethinking what we assume about emergency management. The stories and anecdotes included in American Dunkirk show that "ordinary" people can improvise and solve problems in the face of uncertainty. Even with all the evacuation activity that took place on 9/11, there were no major accidents. Given the effectiveness and safety of these improvised responses, the authors suggest that the Incident Command System...