The evacuation order for the South Tower was given at 8:59 a.m. by Port Authority police, who ordered the evacuation of both towers at that time. This evacuation order came 4 minutes after the South Tower was declared secure at 8:55 a.m. The evacuation order was then expanded to the entire World Trade Center complex a minute later, at 9:00 a.m.
So, the evacuation of the South Tower was ordered at 8:59 a.m. The timeline indicates that the South Tower was declared secure at 8:55 a.m., and the evacuation order followed 4 minutes later. Therefore, the time passed between the South Tower being declared secure and the evacuation order was approximately 4 minutes.
