In our business, it’s called basic reporting. Over six days this summer, two Sun Journal staffers spent six days and about 40 hours poring through three years’ worth of Maine Emergency Management Agency grant requests and rewards.

Their mission? To figure out whether Mainers are safer than we were before that fateful day five years ago when terrorists took command of three airliners, killing about 3,000 Americans and changing our nation forever.

Our conclusion: All that money spent in Maine, about $37 million, has been spent – with a few small and arguable exceptions – well. Mainers are safer today than we were five years ago.

Our analysis of about 900 MEMA records shows the money has been spent largely on practical stuff like radios, generators, vehicles and boats. Fire, police and emergency management organizations have taken stock of their weaknesses and spent money to better protect the public.

The full report on the spending appeared in Saturday’s Sun Journal.

While it was the shock of 9/11 and the fear of terrorist attack that prompted the surge in federal spending, we doubt very much that any of the new equipment and training here will be deployed in response to a terrorist attack.

Anything is possible, but the list of far more easily accessible targets near large population centers elsewhere in the U.S. makes the chance of a terrorist strike here seem remote.

It is comforting to know, however, that emergency agencies in Maine are now better prepared to deal with all types of emergencies, from floods to ice storms, from chemical spills to hurricanes. Emergency responders have more training, are better able to communicate and have more sophisticated equipment than they did even a year ago.

For instance, Maine once had eight HazMat teams, mostly located around paper mills. Today it has 22, leaving the entire population within one hour of a team. Lewiston used $300,000 to train and outfit its 23-person team.

It’s also worth noting what the Sun Journal was told by Tom Carey, who retired three years ago as the U.S. chief of domestic terrorism operations for the FBI. He is a Bates College grad and now head of security at the college.

Police are much more alert and less likely to dismiss strange complaints, he said.

“I would be willing to bet you that things that years ago would come into a complaint desk (and get dismissed as) ‘It’s a full moon, the aluminum foil’s on people’s heads, the werewolves are out,’ you can’t take that chance anymore,” he said. “9/11 changed that. Everything gets personal attention.”

If true, that’s a comforting development.

For most Mainers, however, the more realistic fear of terrorism comes when they leave the state or travel abroad. Who does not now think about 9/11 when they board a plane with a connection at a New York City airport? Who doesn’t think about that day as they remove their shoes for a security check before boarding an airplane?

Who doesn’t think about terrorism when they plan a vacation or business trip overseas? Who, with a child or relative living in Boston or New York, doesn’t think about the possibility of another attack?

Who, with a relative fighting in Iraq, doesn’t think about our nation’s response to terrorism every day? And, who can forget about terrorism when the mastermind of 9/11 is still at large and making public pronouncements?

In Maine, our distance is a buffer from some of the anxiety felt more acutely by people in other places and other societies. We have spent $37 million and are better able to respond to all sorts of emergencies.

While we may be safer, unfortunately, it often doesn’t feel that way.