Manchester streets eerily quiet after bombing, says Windsor native
Emily Regier returned to the eerily quiet streets of Manchester, England on Tuesday after the tragic suicide bombing that killed 22 people and wounded 59 others.
"The silence was the one thing I realized," said the Windsor native, who moved to England's second-largest city in January. "Everything is quiet. I don't think anybody knew, or still knows, how to respond to something like this."
Regier was in New York at the time of the attack, waiting for her transatlantic flight at the John F Kennedy International Airport. That's when she was flooded with text messages from friends, family and colleagues. Everyone wanted to know what was going on and to make sure she was safe.
Regier returned home Tuesday morning to find her roommate holed up in their apartment, sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket. He was in the city centre, near the Manchester Arena, when the bomb went off.
Like many others in the city, she and her roommate barely left the apartment the next day. The streets remained quiet all day, Regier said, which was extremely odd considering how bustling they would be given Tuesday's sunny weather.
"Because we get cloud and rain so often, if there's even a bit of sunshine outside, people are out," Regier said. "People are (usually) outside playing football in the park, walking around — no one is outside."
Residents on high alert
Cities around the world have been put on high alert with officials recognizing that nowhere is safe, particularly when there are large public events with a concentrated amount of people.
Windsor resident Mariel Francisco was at a concert at the Fillmore Detroit moments after the attack.
"We were all in shock. It was actually really upsetting," she said. "Everybody got super emotional and took their time in a moment of silence."
Attacks like these have started to change how Francisco looks at large events. She doesn't want to be afraid of going to concerts or any other major event, but the thought is on her mind far more often.
"It's really upsetting because you never know where it's going to happen or when it's going to happen," she said.
Nathalie Couvillion works for the Detroit Pistons and is regularly at the Palace of Auburn Hills. She too now worries about being in a space with so many people, given the unpredictability of where a bombing might occur.
"It's kind of scary that even at work, for me, something like that can happen," she said.
Many residents in Windsor had few concerns about anything dangerous happening while the city hosts the Memorial Cup. The popular junior hockey tournament has been regularly drawing thousands to the WFCU Centre throughout the week.
"I really didn't think about that being an issue here in Windsor," said Heather Marier, who was at the arena before Tuesday's game. "I think of Windsor as a pretty small town and just wouldn't think this would be the type of place that would be under any kind of attack."
