“My daughter got the news flash on her computer screen at work and telephoned immediately,” said one oil company contractor employee. “She was surprised to find me asleep. I explained to her that Alkhobar is far from Riyadh and that I was safe.”

The US Embassy and consulates quickly sent out a security message through their warden network. By early morning, the decision had been made by many international schools to close for the day.

“I was asleep when the telephone rang at 5:30 a.m.,” said a Pakistani parent. “It was a teacher from Rahima Academy telling me that school had been canceled for the day due to bomb blasts in Riyadh. I was shocked. I lay back on my pillows and 10 minutes later the phone rang again. It was my other son’s teacher also informing me that school had been canceled. I have three children at Rahima, so sure enough a few minutes after the second call, a third call came from the school. By then I couldn’t sleep anymore so I turned on the news.”

Later in the day messages went out from international schools that after consultations with their school boards and the US Consulate’s regional security officer, that schools would remain closed at least until Saturday. The message on the answering machine of the Dhahran Elementary/Middle School from International Schools Group Superintendent Fred Bowen said that the continuing schools closure was due to the “indeterminate nature of the attacks.”