22 Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center

LOCATION Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Washington, DC

SECRECY OVERVIEW Existence unacknowledged: secret installation to house US government officials in the event of a disaster.

Straddling the Loudon and Clarke counties of Virginia, the facility at Mount Weather comprises two main parts—one above ground, concerned with the management of national disasters, and a more mysterious subterranean section. This hidden, unacknowledged complex is widely believed to serve as a “continuity of government” base, a home for key Washington personnel in times of crisis.

The Mount Weather site was historically used for launching weather balloons, and later came under the aegis of the US Bureau of Mines. During the 1950s, an extensive program of drilling into the mountain was undertaken with a view to the military building a subterranean complex of tunnels and bunkers.

Today the complex, covering several acres, is believed to include high-tech ventilation systems, computer rooms, a broadcasting studio, a hospital, reservoirs and accommodation quarters. It is widely speculated that Mount Weather would be used as an alternative command center by the President and other senior government officials as well as members of the Supreme Court in the event of a disaster. Much of Congress was rumored to have been transferred here in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Sited inconspicuously off Route 601, the center first came to public attention in 1977, after a Boeing 727 crashed nearby in bad weather. Toward the end of the 1970s, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now part of the Department of Homeland Security and charged with disaster response, opened above-ground training facilities. It is also rumored that the US National Gallery of Art has an emergency plan to deposit at-risk works of art here.

While FEMA’s operations are in the public domain, the underground part of the complex retains its mystique. No journalists or members of the public have ever been granted a tour, and all personnel associated with it in an official capacity maintain a strict code of silence. The area is surrounded by razor-wire fencing and barriers, while signs warn “US Property. No Trespassing.” Armed guards patrol the environs and protect the main entrances, which are believed to include 3-meter (10-ft) thick blast doors weighing over 30 tons each. Some conspiracy theorists have become convinced that the complex houses a “shadow government” pulling Washington’s strings, although there is little evidence to back this up.

1 PANIC STATIONS FEMA was constituted in 1979 and has run a facility at Mount Weather since its inauguration. The organization received fierce criticism for its response after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Pictured left is a search-and-rescue flyover during that operation.

2 PRESIDENTIAL BOLTHOLE In the event of a catastrophe such as the outbreak of full-scale war, the underground complex beneath Mount Weather would offer a possible shelter for the US President and senior government officials, arriving aboard military helicopters such as the President’s Marine One.