After 10:30 a.m. September 11, 2001: Some White House Staffers Are Unaware of the Terrorist Attacks and Have Not Evacuated

A number of staffers are still in the White House long after the building was evacuated, unaware of the terrorist attacks that have occurred and the potential danger they are in. [Brower, 2015, pp. 263] The White House was evacuated at about 9:45 a.m., after the Secret Service learned of a possible threat against it (see (9:45 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Associated Press, 2001 ; CNN, 9/12/2001] And yet some butlers on its second and third floors who have been setting up the bars for this evening’s Congressional picnic (see 8:30 a.m. September 11, 2001) only learn something unusual is going on nearly an hour after the evacuation took place. [Brower, 2015, pp. 263] They emerge from the building “well after the White House had been officially evacuated,” White House chef Walter Scheib will later recall. “The residence was such a world of its own [that] they had no idea what had transpired,” he will say. [Kantor, 2012, pp. 38] Additionally, a few engineers remain in the basement of the White House for hours after the evacuation occurs. They are “oblivious to the panic upstairs and the danger they [are] in,” according to journalist and author Kate Andersen Brower. [Brower, 2015, pp. 263]