After a period in which people are stunned and in a state of disbelief about the events of Sept. 11, "you can count on this bringing out the best in humanity," says Professor Dennis Mileti, chair of the sociology department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and director of the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center.
"The victims, the citizens, the cities that have been impacted will come together like they've never come together before and do what needs to be done," said Mileti, who specializes in the social response to disastrous events. "You can also bet that unprecedented resources will be poured into recovering from these attacks.
"Our nation will never be the same," he said. "Getting on an airplane in this country until you and I die of old age will never be the same. This is certainly one of the most significant events in the history of our nation."
In terms of physical impacts, today's events are indistinguishable from natural events such as great earthquakes and hurricanes, Mileti said. "We can learn from our previous experiences with natural disasters."
People go through well-identified stages following such an event, he said. An initial stage is one of shock and disbelief.
"It is human curiosity to be drawn to the television in an event like this," he said. "Through the basic emotions of sympathy and empathy we will identify with the victims. We will observe a tremendous outpouring of free labor, goods and services, and money. Most citizens will personalize this. Most citizens will experience the emotion of this.
"This is equivalent to when Jack Kennedy was assassinated and goes beyond that. From the standpoint of psychological impact, every American life has shifted. This is evidence that none of us is safe. This is our country and this is our Statue of Liberty engulfed in smoke. I know that my life and the work of the Natural Hazards Center will be altered as a result of this event."
In disaster situations, social science research has shown that up to 95 percent of the victims will be rescued and receive help from their neighbors and other citizens rather than emergency personnel, Mileti said. After everyone who survived has been rescued and been provided with shelter and food and the debris of the attacks has been removed, there may be a shift to another stage, he said.
"In this stage, community cohesion may break down and citizens may begin looking for individuals or groups to blame," Mileti said. "The only thing that can impact this is public education. If people defined Italians as the group that did this and you look Italian -- you might be seen as a threat. Each of us is responsible for ensuring that no individual or group is unfairly blamed for our shared tragedy.
"We here at the Natural Hazards Center will do our utmost to help learn from and document the lessons of this event for our country and make these lessons available worldwide."
The center plays a key role in funding research in the United States on the social and behavioral sciences following disasters. Requests for work connected with the events of Sept. 11 already have been received, he said.
A total of 27 agencies have some role in the federal response to hazards and disasters, Mileti said. This event is unique because of the strategic targeting of Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Mileti headed a landmark study on natural hazards risks for the National Science Foundation in 1999 titled "Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States. He is the author of more than 100 publications, most of which focus on societal aspects of emergency preparedness and natural and technological hazard mitigation.