Terror in America: State-by-State Reactions
The Nation Goes On High Alert After Worst Terrorist Attack Ever

Sept. 12, 2001 -- The Associated Press released this list late Tuesday of some precautions taken around the nation in the wake of the terrorist attacks:

NATIONWIDE: The Federal Aviation Administration shut down airports nationwide, Navy installations along the East Coast tightened security, and major league baseball postponed its entire schedule of 15 games.

Unidentified FBI agents guard the entrace to the Federal Building in Westwood, Calif. Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Associated Press

ALABAMA: Security increased at nuclear power plants and military bases, including Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, site of the Army missile command and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Airports halted flights, schools report some children being checked out.

ALASKA: Military bases were placed on high alert, FBI coordinating with other federal agencies to check major buildings in Anchorage, the state's largest city. Security also heightened along the trans-Alaska pipeline, which supplies the nation with about one-fifth of its oil needs.

ARIZONA: Airports closed. Security increased at military bases and Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear plant in the nation. Access to federal buildings restricted to employees. The Emergency Operations Centers for the state and the city of Phoenix were activated. State and city offices open, but employees being allowed to go home if they wished. Polling places remained open for city elections.

CALIFORNIA: Airports closed, as are other landmarks, including Knott's Berry Farm in Orange County, the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and the city's 74-story Library Tower, at 1,700 feet the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. State on high alert. State's Emergency Council convened as Gov. Gray Davis requested heightened security at all state buildings. Legislative sessions postponed.

COLORADO: City and state officials stepped up security around government buildings. City opened an emergency preparedness office in the basement of City Hall, where representatives of police, fire and health agencies, public transportation officials, Denver International Airport and utilities were gathering.

FLORIDA: Security heightened at federal courts. Walt Disney World evacuated and closed its four theme parks and shopping and entertainment complex. Space shuttle operations halted, 12,000 employees of Kennedy Space Center sent home. Increased surveillance, with helicopter patrols and extra gate checks in place. Skeleton crew remains at launch control center.

GEORGIA: All flights at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, the nation's busiest, stopped. The CNN Center, world headquarters of Cable News Network, closed to the public, although journalists at CNN and The Associated Press remained. Legislators stopped their session to sing "God Bless America."

ILLINOIS: Sears Tower shut down, state government buildings in Chicago and Springfield closed. National Guard on state of heightened alert in Illinois.

INDIANA: Federal offices on alert.

KENTUCKY: Southern Governors' Association canceled annual fall meeting so governors of Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia could head back to their states.

LOUISIANA: Upper floors of the 34-floor Capitol building closed. Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles supertankers in the Gulf of Mexico, suspends operations. State's 19 oil refineries on alert.

MAINE: Federal courthouses and state office buildings closed.

MARYLAND: Officials tightening security throughout the state. Security heightened at Andrews Air Force Base. Baltimore-Washington International Airport taking arrivals not departing flights.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency activated and acting Gov. Jane Swift at its bunker in Framingham. Boston police officers deployed to high-profile areas in Boston. State and federal buildings closed. Tall buildings in Boston evacuated. Barricades set up around the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor.

MICHIGAN: Tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, temporarily closed, then reopened for car traffic amid increased security along the Canadian border. Internal Revenue Service closes 18 Michigan offices. Ford Motor Co. closed its world headquarters in Dearborn, affecting about 1,000. Security heightened for Great Lakes shipping.

MINNESOTA: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shut down. Evacuation of the 51-story IDS Center, the state's tallest building, located in downtown Minneapolis. The Mall of America, in suburban Bloomington, and World Trade Center in St. Paul closed.

MISSOURI: Security at government buildings intensified. Some courthouses and malls closed and emergency forces mobilized. Religious leaders held special prayer services across the state. Some lawmakers did likewise, holding hands in a circle and bowing their heads in the Capitol basement. In St. Louis, the trademark, 630-foot-tall Gateway Arch closed.

NEBRASKA: State employees responding to requests for blood donations. Security was heightened at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. Churches in Norfolk and Fremont areas holding or planning prayer services for victims.

NEVADA: Security increased at casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, at federal buildings across the state and Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. Flights suspended.

NEW JERSEY: Airports and river crossings into New York City closed. Traffic reported snarled on the New Jersey Turnpike. At Newark International Airport, officers with shotguns blocked the road leading to Port Authority offices and the air traffic control tower. Security increased at state buildings in Trenton. Liberty State Park closed. Federal buildings and courthouses closed.

NEW MEXICO: State Capitol evacuated. Holloman, Kirtland and Cannon Air Force bases go to highest security alert; Department of Energy's Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories close. State Fair closed until noon Wednesday. FBI blocks streets around its headquarters near downtown Albuquerque.

NEW YORK: Courts closed, federal offices evacuated. Security increased at border points and other potential targets, ranging from the military academy at West Point to the sprawling electricity distribution system criss-crossing the state. Gov. George Pataki canceled his New York City events. State Senate canceled Wednesday's session. Southbound lanes of Interstate 87 (the New York State Thruway) south of the Tappan Zee Bridge closed. NEW YORK CITY: Subway lines shut down; limited service later restored. Mayoral primary election called off. Airports closed. Trading on Wall Street suspended. United Nations building evacuated. Many offices throughout Manhattan closed. Cellular phone service crippled. Regular phone service congested. Evacuations from Wall Street to the United Nations. Lower Manhattan closed to all but emergency vehicles. Bridges and tunnels into Manhattan closed.

NORTH CAROLINA: Security heightened at the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune and its air base at Cherry Point. The old Capitol Building, which houses the governor's office, closed; security tightened at other state government buildings in Raleigh.

NORTH DAKOTA: Security boosted at federal courthouses in Fargo, Bismarck, Minot and Grand Forks. Shopping malls in Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks closed. Internal Revenue Service offices closed. Access to some buildings restricted.

OHIO: Major airports and some shopping malls closed. House and Senate sessions canceled. All nonessential state employees ordered home. Federal building in Cleveland evacuated; security increased at other federal buildings.

OKLAHOMA: Gov. Frank Keating ordered all state office buildings closed. Oklahoma City police created a one-block perimeter around the jail, where bombing conspirator Terry Nichols is housed.

OREGON: Flights canceled at Portland airport, state's largest; most major buildings in the city evacuated; state federal buildings closed; some private schools closed, but public schools open. State Capitol to remain open. Army chemical weapons depot 160 miles east of Portland placed on heightened security.

PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia International Airport closed. High-profile tourist attractions like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall closed.

SOUTH CAROLINA: All federal courthouses closed. At Fort Jackson in Columbia, the Army's largest training facility was closed to anyone without military identification.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Commercial flights from Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Pierre and other South Dakota cities grounded.

TENNESSEE: Department of Energy's nuclear weapons and research complex in Oak Ridge put under heightened security. All flights from Tennessee's major airports grounded. Planes were allowed to land.

TEXAS: Some office buildings evacuated. Flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport canceled and Austin-Bergstrom International closed. City Hall in El Paso closed.

UTAH: Security tightened at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. Deseret Chemical Depot near Tooele at highest alert. Salt Lake International Airport shut down.

VERMONT: Security increased in state buildings and around Gov. Howard Dean. Airports shut down. Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant moved to increased security status. Federal buildings in Montpelier and Burlington closed.

VIRGINIA: Navy installations throughout Hampton Roads, home of the world's largest Navy base, placed under an increased security condition. The 192nd Virginia Air National Guard 192nd fighter squadron, an attack unit of fully armed F-16 fighter jets, put on alert with orders to down any unauthorized aircraft.

WASHINGTON: Security heightened at the Army's Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base and at the Navy's Bangor submarine base, one of the nation's largest nuclear arsenals. Hanford nuclear reservation on heightened security. The Space Needle, the Columbia Tower and other prominent buildings in Seattle evacuated as a precaution. State ferry system halted most vehicle traffic on its boats.

WEST VIRGINIA: Chemical plant security heightened. Flights out of Charleston's Yeager Airport, West Virginia's largest, suspended. Capitol Complex evacuated, increased security at other state buildings. Federal courthouses closed.

WISCONSIN: The National Funeral Directors Association in Milwaukee activated national Demort team, which responds to major disasters as part of a funeral director network.

Source: Associated Press