WASHINGTON D. C.– Authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of the main Independence Day event in Washington this Saturday, after weather conditions threatened to affect the activities scheduled on the National Mall, where celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States were taking place.
The measure was adopted after a thunderstorm alert was issued and lightning was detected in the vicinity of the George Washington Monument. Through the sound system, organizers asked attendees to leave the area and head to nearby buildings or their vehicles while the weather risk passed.
Thousands of people, who had waited for hours to enter the venue, began to leave in an orderly fashion. However, some attendees later returned to the event area amidst the confusion generated by the evacuation announcements, while chants of “USA” could be heard among the crowd.
The event, titled “Salute to America”, included artistic performances, military flyovers, a speech by President Donald Trump, and a fireworks display. Up until the moment of the evacuation, organizers reported that the activities had not been definitively canceled and that they would evaluate resuming the program once weather conditions improved.
The celebrations for the 250th anniversary of independence were also marked by an intense heat wave that affected a large part of the United States East Coast, causing the modification or cancellation of several outdoor events in different cities across the country.
