The Industry Will Shine In The Midst Of This Tragedy
Even a week later, words are hard to come by and hardly seem sufficient to convey the horror of what happened to the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, as well as the four hijacked planes.
We here in the Hoboken office of National Underwriter experienced the tragedy viscerally, located as we are directly across the Hudson River from the Twin Towers. Many of us were eyewitnesses, watching the second hijacked plane crash deliberately into the WTC, as well as the collapse of each of the two towers.
Many of us had a special attachment to those mighty buildings. Some here commuted through the WTC every single day. Many of our contacts and friends, readers and advertisers in the insurance industry who worked in the complex may be lost in the rubble.
The memories of the events of this devastating day will never leave us.
But we will recover. And the insurance industry will play a crucial role in this recovery.
Robert A. Rusbuldt, chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents of America in Alexandria, Va., noted that "the entire industry will work together to help victims recover and to put their lives back in order. Insurance will play a huge role in the recovery of hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses affected in New York City and the hundreds of thousands of people impactednationally."
Rusbuldt, who conceded sadly that "unfortunately, [insurance] policies cannot replace the tragic loss of life," noted that IIAA and its New York affiliate would be establishing a fund "that will help victims and their families pull through these trying times."
