“It’s so unreal. There’s black dense smoke completely masking downtown. Then, there’s the Statue of Liberty with two military helicopters and the American flag flying.”

These are the words of ISU alumna Christine Rowans, a reporter for CNN Financial News in New York City.

Words that mean yesterday’s attack on New York and Washington, D.C. are not as far removed from Ames as everyone would like them to be.

Justin Duhn, senior in journalism and mass communication from Estherville, had started his second day of an internship at “Inside Edition” in downtown New York City.

Duhn said he came into the office right about the time the first plane slammed into the side of one tower.

He was then immediately sent to the scene.

“My job, as an intern, was to stay in the van while reporters and crew were at the base of the building,” Duhn said. “For a while, I didn’t know if they were alive.”

Duhn said while he was waiting for the crew to return, the first tower fell to the ground.

“It was completely unexpected,” he said. “Everybody was really close.”

Duhn said the scene was “pure pandemonium.”

“People were frozen in horror,” he said. “There was white ash everywhere. It looked like a volcano had gone off.

“Everybody was frantically running around or lined up around the block at every single pay phone,” Dunn said.

“You get out there and everyone is gathered around any TV . It’s like in the olden days, when people gathered on the street in front of shop windows.”

Nathan Taylor, an ISU alumnus and current design coordinator at Essence magazine, said he witnessed the event from six blocks away on the opposite side of the Hudson Bridge while getting on a train to Rockefeller Center.

“Man, I saw the first [plane] zoom in and then an explosion and fire,” Taylor said.

Rowans said she was walking toward the subway station when she heard an explosion and looked over her shoulder.

“I could clearly see the World Trade Center,” she said. “I could see smoke billowing out of one tower.”

Rowans said about 1,000 people gathered on the street and stared at the building, when there was a second “massive explosion.”

“It’s the most scary-looking thing,” she said. “We cover . things in that building. I have sources who probably didn’t make it.”

Duhn said he finally talked to his family around 2 p.m. Until then, Duhn said he had been around the Wall Street area and was unable to get back to the office.

He ended up walking across downtown to find a phone.

“My mom had already called [the office],” he said. “She knows now that I’m fine.”

Rowans said she, too, let her family in Le Claire know she was safe.

“It was the first phone call I made,” she said. “I talked to my dad, and he started up the phone tree.”

Rowans said she’s also been in contact with friends through e-mail.

Several people in Ames waited by their phones and computers for similar messages from loved ones.

At least 60 current ISU students are from the New York City and Washington areas, said Steve Sullivan, university communication manager.

Paul Logallo, junior in architecture, is from Conklin, N.Y., a town about 150 miles from New York City.

“I’m pretty shook up right now,” he said. “I can’t even describe it.”

Logallo said he’s “not too worried” about his family, because they are far removed from the city.

He does, however, have relatives who live in Long Island and near Pittsburgh, one of the four crash sites.

“I have family who used to work downtown,” he said. “Luckily, that was a year or two ago. I’m just glad they weren’t there.”

Leanne Zrostlik, freshman in psychology, has a brother who works in the Human Resources Department at the Pentagon.

“My whole family was a wreck because at first we couldn’t get a hold of him and we didn’t know what part of the Pentagon he worked in,” she said. “He was finally able to call [his wife] and tell her he was okay, but he couldn’t leave the Pentagon for a few hours.”

Norm Bezane, father of ISU graduate Conor Bezane, who now works for AOL Digital City in New York, said he and his wife “were very concerned” when they heard the news from a friend.

Bezane said they called his son’s cell and office phones and sent “an immediate e-mail.”

“We spent a lot of time trying to figure out where the trade center was in relation to [Conor’s] office,” he said.

He said the building was on 18th Street, not close to the World Trade towers.

“[Conor] said his office was closed,” Bezane said. “He talked about going home to Brooklyn, and we urged him not to. We were worried about the threat to the subway, and we suggested he move north into Manhattan. I felt he should avoid large buildings.”

Bezane said his son was “calm, cool and collected.” He and his wife, however, are still “somewhat concerned.”

Duhn said he could hardly believe the changes from Monday afternoon.

“[Monday], I’m answering e-mail,” he said. “Now, I’m in the middle of everything. The first time I’ve ever seen the World Trade Center, and it’s in flames.”

Rowans has a different perspective.

“I just keep thinking this is the very beginning,” she said. “We have no idea what tomorrow is going to look like. We’ve never seen anything like this.”