Severe weather brought a tornado warning to Washington’s suburbs today, prompting authorities to evacuate the thousands of people gathered at the National Mall for holiday festivities.
Authorities reopened the Mall roughly a couple of hours after the 5 p.m. evacuation.
When the National Weather Service issued the all-clear, officers alerted visitors who had taken shelter in nearby government buildings and museums that they could return to the grassy area.
The National Symphony Orchestra was to perform on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol followed by a fireworks show.
Officers on foot, bicycles and horses had earlier used megaphones to order the crowds into nearby buildings as the sky darkened and winds picked up, authorities said.
“We planned for this exact scenario, and it went off exactly as we planned,” said U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Lachance.
The evacuated crowds had to pass through one of 19 security checkpoints to get back into the area.
Security was heightened for the festivities after foiled terror attacks on Glasgow and London last week. Hundreds of emergency responders from about 20 law-enforcement agencies were on duty, authorities said.
The scene was reminiscent of last year, when a severe storm hit the Mall at about the same time and sent people fleeing. Crowds have reached 500,000 people or more in the past.
