When he learned moments later about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, his thoughts turned to his 25-year-old son, who works as a consultant in an office building near the trade center. He didn't know whether his child was dead or alive.

''I couldn't pay attention to the class - I needed to leave,'' Mr. Dlugolenski said. ''You can't just sit there. Your mind is racing a hundred miles an hour.''

More than three hours later, Mr. Dlugolenski learned that his son Dave Jr. was safe. He had been in the lobby of the trade center's north tower shortly before 9 a.m. when a hijacked plane crashed into the 110-story structure. The junior Mr. Dlugolenski was dropping off his girlfriend at a lobby elevator before heading to work a few blocks away.

The couple heard and felt the plane's impact and managed to run from the building before it crumbled to the ground a short while later, Mr. Dlugolenski said.

''They really just escaped with their lives there,'' he said. ''By the grace of God, they made it out.''

A NUMBER OF PEOPLE with area ties had similar tales to tell about narrowly escaping harm or witnessing Tuesday's tragic events.

Former Augusta Commissioner Moses Todd was 245 feet up in the air at a New Jersey oil refinery when he saw smoke coming from the north tower of the World Trade Center after the first plane crashed into it Tuesday.

Mr. Todd, who is working in New Jersey as a pipe fitter, said he was gazing at the horizon about 9:50 a.m. when he saw white smoke coming from the tower.

''I told my co-worker I thought the tower was on fire,'' Mr. Todd said. ''He said, 'No, it's just a cloud.' But I said it was too early for a cloud.''

Mr. Todd said he used his cell phone to call television station WCBS, which confirmed the tower was on fire.

''The second fire started thereafter,'' Mr. Todd said.

Fred Norton was approaching the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge heading into Manhattan when he looked up and saw a fireball erupt as the second plane crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.

''The bridge shook,'' said Mr. Norton, whose parents live in Augusta. Cars pulled over as people watched the flames in horror. There had already been a radio report of the first explosion, and Mr. Norton said he thought at first it was an accident.

''A guy standing next to me on the bridge said, 'I hope that's not what I think it is,''' Mr. Norton said by phone.

He was able to make it to work at his law firm, about 35 miles away from the chaotic scene. Mr. Norton said people at his office were doing what everyone else was doing - calling around, trying to find out whether their relatives were OK.

''The first hour, everyone was just trying to find out where everyone was,'' he said. A colleague whose wife is pregnant kept a conference call with her open, afraid he wouldn't be able to reach her again if he hung up.

''Things aren't going back to normal for a while,'' Mr. Norton said.

THE DAY STARTED OFF normal for Karine Cashin, but that changed quickly when coverage of the attack began as she was watching the Today show.

''My first thought was, World Trade Center - oh my God - that's where John works,'' she said, referring to her son. ''I knew he didn't work up very high in that building ... I was just praying he could get out.''

''Then the phone rang, and he said, 'Mom, it's John. I'm OK.' I was in tears when he called me,'' Mrs. Cashin said. ''We're very fortunate and we've all been to church today to thank God.''

Mr. Cashin, a graduate of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and Augusta State University, has worked in the World Trade Center for about a year and a half but had not left for work when the attack occurred.

''He works flex time and didn't have to go in until later,'' said his father, Robert Cashin, the vice president of the property management and leasing department for Blanchard and Calhoun. ''He was still at home when it happened.''

Mr. Cashin said he didn't worry about his son's safety at the New York City landmark - until Tuesday.

''He told me about the security they had coming and going, and it sounded like it was very strict,'' he said. ''I didn't think any kind of terrorists would try that again. But I guess you never know.''

Trish Arnold says she knew. Call it ''mother's intuition,'' but Ms. Arnold warned her daughters for years that it was only a matter of time before terrorists attacked the United States.

''They always thought I was nuts,'' she said.

HER DAUGHTER, Angie Hauser-Robinson, a 30-year-old dancer who lives in Brooklyn, was walking about 10 blocks from the twin towers when a plane crashed into one of the buildings.

''She did not see the planes but she did see the aftermath,'' Ms. Arnold said. ''She was on the phone (with me) when the last tower collapsed.''

People started moving away from the scene as fast as they could, she said.

''I can see her running like a gazelle,'' Ms. Arnold said.

The young woman managed to cross into Queens via a minor bridge and make her way back home by afternoon. As soon as travel restrictions are lifted, she and four friends who are now holed up in her Brooklyn apartment will go to a friend's in the Hamptons.

A second daughter, 32-year-old Iona Hauser, worked in the Pentagon until last October, when she moved to Raleigh, N.C. Ms. Hauser was on the phone with a friend in the Pentagon when a plane crashed into the building about 9:40 a.m.

''She lost phone contact when the plane hit, but her friend called back and is OK,'' Ms. Arnold said.

South Carolina Sen. Greg Ryberg of Aiken has two daughters who live about three miles from the World Trade Center. Both saw the second plane hit the south tower.

He said Tuesday's tragedy will affect all Americans.

''People say it doesn't affect South Carolina, but in our state of 3.8 million people, we're all going to have some connection,'' he said. ''What happened there, if we're human, impacts us all.''

Staff Writers Heidi Coryell Williams, Sylvia Cooper, Elizabeth Adams, Virginia Norton, Eric Williamson and Mike Wynn contributed to this article.