Twenty-five years ago today, the World Trade Center towers fell. In the hours and days that followed, the world watched stories of extraordinary courage — firefighters climbing toward smoke, strangers carrying strangers, a city holding itself together through grief.

What received far less attention, then and for years afterward, was what happened to the disabled people in those buildings. And what their experiences revealed about how emergency systems — evacuation plans, first responder protocols, building codes, disaster response — had been designed without them in mind.

This is not a post about tragedy for its own sake. It is a post about what that day taught us, what has changed in the twenty-five years since, and — most practically — what you can do right now to make sure you are not left behind in an emergency.

What Happened on September 11 — and What It Revealed

The evacuation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was, by any measure, one of the largest in history. Tens of thousands of people made it out. But for people with mobility disabilities, visual impairments, and other conditions that affected their ability to move quickly through stairwells, the evacuation was a different experience entirely.

Elevators were shut down immediately — standard protocol in a fire emergency. Stairwells were the only option. For wheelchair users and others who could not navigate stairs, the protocol was to wait in designated "areas of rescue assistance" — enclosed stairwell landings where they were supposed to be met by emergency personnel.

Many were not met. Some waited for hours. Some did not make it out.

The failures were not primarily failures of individual courage or effort. They were failures of planning. Buildings had not been designed with realistic evacuation routes for disabled occupants. Emergency personnel had not been adequately trained on evacuation assist techniques. Communication systems did not account for people who were deaf or hard of hearing. The assumption, baked into the infrastructure, was that disabled people would be helped by someone — without specifying who, how, or with what equipment.

What Changed After 9/11

The aftermath of September 11 prompted real changes in emergency planning for disabled people — though advocates would argue the changes did not go nearly far enough.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 and subsequent executive orders required federal agencies to incorporate the needs of people with disabilities into emergency preparedness planning. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 — passed after Hurricane Katrina exposed similar failures in disaster response — went further, requiring FEMA to specifically address the needs of people with disabilities and establish a Disability Coordinator position.

Building codes were updated in many jurisdictions to require evacuation chairs, better-marked areas of rescue assistance, and two-way communication systems in stairwells so people waiting for assistance could communicate with emergency personnel.

The Access Board updated accessibility guidelines for emergency systems. Organizations like the National Organization on Disability and FEMA's Office of Disability Integration and Coordination began doing sustained work on inclusive emergency planning.

These were meaningful steps. But anyone who has lived through a major disaster since 2001 — Katrina, Sandy, the California wildfires, COVID-19 — knows that disabled people are still disproportionately affected, still more likely to be left behind, still more likely to face barriers that non-disabled people do not.

Why Disabled People Are Still More Vulnerable in Emergencies

The structural problems have not been fully solved. Here is why disabled people remain more at risk.

Evacuation infrastructure still lags. Many older buildings — including residential buildings, which are not subject to the same commercial building codes — still lack adequate evacuation equipment or plans for disabled occupants.

Emergency alerts are not universally accessible. Outdoor sirens do not reach people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Text-based alerts require a working phone. Visual alerts are not standard in most public spaces.

Shelters are often inaccessible. Emergency shelters may lack accessible bathrooms, cots that work for people with mobility limitations, power for medical equipment, refrigeration for medications, or staff trained to assist people with various disabilities.

Evacuation orders assume personal transportation. "Get out now" is straightforward advice if you have a car and can drive. It is considerably more complicated if you rely on paratransit, use a power wheelchair that cannot be transported in a standard vehicle, or have a condition that makes rapid movement dangerous.

Informal support networks break down. In a disaster, the neighbors and family members who might normally help are dealing with their own emergencies. The informal systems that disabled people often rely on are not reliable under crisis conditions.

Building Your Own Emergency Plan

The gap between what emergency systems should provide and what they actually provide means that disabled people often need to do more individual planning than their non-disabled peers. That is not fair. It is also true.

Here is a practical framework.

Know Your Specific Needs

Start by being honest with yourself about what you would need in an emergency. This is not a comfortable exercise, but it is a necessary one.

• What medications do you take, and how long can you go without them? Do any require refrigeration?
• Do you use power-dependent equipment — a ventilator, a power wheelchair, a CPAP, an infusion pump?
• What is your mobility like under stress, in the dark, on uneven terrain?
• Do you have communication needs that standard emergency systems might not meet?
• Are there specific environmental conditions — extreme heat, cold, air quality — that are particularly dangerous for you?

Your plan needs to account for your actual situation, not a generic version of it.

Build a Go-Bag That Works for You

A standard emergency go-bag recommendation — three days of food and water, flashlight, first aid kit — is a starting point, not a complete plan. Yours should also include:

• At least a week's supply of all medications (rotate stock so it stays current)
• Copies of prescriptions and a list of all medications with dosages
• Contact information for your doctors and pharmacy
• Any medical documentation that emergency personnel might need
• Backup power for essential devices (portable battery packs, hand-crank chargers)
• Any adaptive equipment you would need to function — hearing aids and extra batteries, glasses, mobility aids
• A list of your specific needs written out clearly, in case you cannot communicate them yourself

Register with Local Emergency Management

Many counties and cities maintain voluntary registries of residents with disabilities or access and functional needs. These registries are used to prioritize outreach and assistance during evacuations and disasters. Search "[your county] special needs registry" or "[your city] access and functional needs" to find yours.

Registration is not a guarantee of assistance — resources are always limited in a real disaster — but it puts you on the radar of people whose job it is to help.

Have a Network, Not Just a Plan

The most resilient emergency plans involve people, not just supplies. Identify two or three people — neighbors, friends, family members — who know your situation and have agreed to check on you in an emergency. Make sure they know where your go-bag is, what your medications are, and what your evacuation needs look like.

If you live alone, this is especially important. A plan that exists only in your head is not a plan.

Know Your Building

If you live in an apartment or work in a multi-story building, find out:

• Where the areas of rescue assistance are located
• Whether the building has evacuation chairs (and where they are stored)
• What the building's evacuation plan is for people who cannot use stairs
• Whether there is a two-way communication system in the stairwells

If the answers are "I don't know" or "there isn't one," that is worth raising with your building management. You have a right to know how you would be evacuated.

The Bigger Picture

Individual preparedness matters. But it is worth naming clearly: the burden of emergency preparedness should not fall primarily on disabled people. The systems — buildings, emergency management agencies, first responder training, shelter infrastructure — should be designed to include us from the start.

September 11 made that gap visible in a way that was impossible to ignore. The work of closing it is ongoing, and it belongs to all of us — disabled and non-disabled alike.

On a day when we remember what was lost, it is also worth remembering what was learned. And making sure that knowledge actually changes something.

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Related reading:

• Self-Advocacy and Disability: How to Speak Up for Yourself
• Accessible Housing: Finding a Home That Works for You
• Transportation and Disability: Getting Around on Your Own Terms