Hitting close to home

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Rebecca Folmar is a 2005 alumna of UNC who is working in London as an intern at a communications firm. She arrived at King’s Cross Station shortly after an explosion. Here, she details the experience of July 7.]

LONDON -- Just days after the terrorist attacks of Thursday, July 7, London appears to be back to business as usual, though with held breath.

As security alerts were heightened, tube stations unexpectedly closed and investigations furthered Tuesday, I began to suspect that Londoners might not be as confidently defiant as I had originally supposed. Whenever a helicopter flies overhead, or sirens are heard squealing in the distance, people notice.

The tone in the air is now suspenseful as people wonder if another round of terrorism is in store for the city.

It is odd for me to think that last Thursday was just another day of people going about their business.

For me, my day began like any other day, except that I purposely took my time getting to my internship.

Instead of leaving my dorm at the usual time of 8:30 a.m., I took my time, hanging out a bit longer with a friend I had hosted overnight.

We left my dorm around 8:45 a.m. and discovered, upon arrival at King’s Cross Station minutes later, that there was a “power outage” at King’s Cross and that the station was closed.

We were directed, along with hundreds of other people, to take the tube from Euston Station, a few blocks away down the road.

Moments before reaching the platform to board my train to work at Euston, an announcement over the P.A. system stated and repeated: “Because of an emergency, this station is being evacuated. Please make your way toward the exits.”

Everyone was calm; we just figured it had something to do with the power outage at King’s Cross. I assumed I would be at work soon if I hopped on a bus. No big deal.

Outside Euston, buses were becoming congested, and a mess of cars, taxis, buses and people clogged the area.

Between iPod tracks, I heard a loud thunderclap.

“Was that an explosion?” I thought. No one seemed bothered.At that point, along with everyone else surrounding me in the crowd, I assumed we were dealing with only a malfunctioning tube system.

Then, another announcement, which was repeated: “Please calmly evacuate the area. Bus service has been suspended.”

Farther out from Euston, roads were being roped off and people were beginning to realize the mobile phone networks were down.

After being herded around as police closed off more streets, I finally managed to make my way down to Russell Square, where I hoped to take another tube line or bus.

At a street corner, I caught a first glimpse of what was going on, peeking into a hotel lobby window to watch live coverage on the BBC of the situation at hand. “Six bomb blasts … numerous casualties … fatalities.” This was serious.

I found a payphone, stood in a long line of people, and finally shared a calling card to contact my parents. I then retreated into a nearby hotel to watch more on the news, and from there, managed to e-mail my boss and my loved ones back home regarding my safety.

I later learned that the loud thunderclap I heard was either a bomb blast at King’s Cross or the bus.

For the most part, even in light of people seeming extra cautious today, London has remained remarkably calm amid the uncertainty surrounding the bombings.

In the days following the attack, citizens have, to an extent, foiled the terrorists’ hope of disrupting life by continuing to go to work.

I was impressed Friday by the number of workers who risked returning to work but wondered if it had do with the fact that all but one of the bombings happened underground, where the destruction was hidden from masses.

Unlike the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that produced images that lingered for months, the visibility of Thursday’s attacks, thankfully, was fairly minimal.

I pray that this remains the case and that London will never experience another tragedy like July 7.

Contact the State & National Edity at stntdesk@unc.edu.