The US is marking its historic 250th anniversary of independence amid extreme weather anomalies. Celebrations in the capital, Washington, were temporarily suspended on Saturday night after federal officials ordered the emergency evacuation of thousands of citizens from the “National Mall“ (National Mall) due to approaching powerful thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and dangerous gusts of wind.
Despite the imposed interruption and forced closure of the sites, US President Donald Trump made an official statement on the social network Truth Social, in which he categorically stated that he would not let the weather conditions ruin the historic anniversary.
“I will not let a little rain stop our 250th anniversary. I will be leaving the White House soon“, Trump wrote. He encouraged those present to stay and have fun: “It's Saturday night, let's have some fun. They say the speech is at 11 pm. Who cares?“. The head of state drew a parallel with American veterans who went through "hellfire" without stopping them, assuring that the storm would not stop the current event.
Organizers from the White House-backed group "Freedom 250" confirmed that the stage and fairgrounds on the "National Mall" are reopening for the "Salute to America" event. The president's speech has been rescheduled for 11:00 p.m. local time (6:00 a.m. Bulgarian time), and it is planned to be followed by the largest fireworks show in the country's history - a total of 850,000 pyrotechnic effects within 40 minutes.
During the evacuation, hundreds of patriotic citizens refused to leave the area, and those who sought refuge in nearby federal buildings and museums spontaneously began singing the American national anthem and patriotic songs.
The holiday weekend is also marked by serious political polarization. On the eve of the Fourth of July, Trump opened the celebrations with a speech at the national monument in Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, where he described communism as a “mortal threat to American freedom“. Critics and political opponents from the Democratic Party, however, accused the administration of politicizing the nation's bipartisan anniversary.
The bad weather also affected the holiday program in a number of other major cities on the East Coast. Philadelphia and Boston also evacuated or canceled some of their concerts and parades, and in New York, the traditional Macy's fireworks show was moved up to an earlier time to get ahead of the storm.
Sources: Truth Social, BBC News, The New York Times, CNN, The Hindu