Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center

The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a government command facility located near Frogtown, Virginia, used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Also known as the High Point Special Facility (HPSF), its preferred designation since 1991 is "SF".<ref name= "hideaway">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The facility is a primary relocation site for the highest level of civilian and military officials in the case of a national disaster, playing a significant role in continuity of government (per the U.S. Continuity of Operations Plan).<ref name="clui">Template:Cite journal</ref> Mount Weather is the location of a control station for the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS), a high frequency radio system connecting most federal public safety agencies and the U.S. military with most of the states.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> FNARS allows the President to access the Emergency Alert System.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The site came into the public eye in 1974 by The Washington Post and the Associated Press mentioning the facility after the crash of TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727 jetliner, into Mount Weather on December 1, 1974 (92 people died).<ref name="pcinva">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Location

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains,<ref name="clui"/> access to the operations center is available via State Route 601 (also called Blue Ridge Mountain Road) in Bluemont, Virginia.<ref name= "cheney's cave">Template:Cite news</ref> The facility is located near Purcellville, Virginia, Template:Convert west of Washington, D.C.<ref name ="worst">Template:Cite news</ref>

The site was opened as a weather station in the late 1800s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> William Jackson Humphreys was selected as the supervising director for the Mount Weather Research Observatory, which was operational from 1904 to 1914. In 1928, the observatory building was the summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The site was used as a Civilian Public Service facility (Camp #114) during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time, there were just two permanent buildings on the site, the administration/dormitory building and the laboratory. The buildings still stand, supplemented by many modern buildings.

The underground facility within Mount Weather, designated "Area B", was completed in 1959. FEMA established training facilities on the mountain's surface ("Area A") in 1979.<ref name ="training site bunker">Template:Cite news</ref> The above ground portion of the FEMA complex (Area A) is at least Template:Convert. The complex includes a training area of unspecified size.<ref name="training site bunker" /> Area B, the underground component is Template:Convert.<ref name="worst" />

Notable activations and evacuations

During the Northeast blackout of 1965, the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center had its first full-scale activation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to a letter to the editor of The Washington Post, after the September 11 attacks, most of the congressional leadership were evacuated to Mount Weather by helicopter.<ref name="worst" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Between 1979 and 1981, the National Gallery of Art developed a program to transport valuable paintings in its collection to Mount Weather via helicopter. Its success depends on how far in advance warning of an attack is received.<ref name="leonardo">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In the media

Template:Unreferenced section The first video of Mount Weather shot from the air to be broadcast on national TV was filmed by ABC News producer Bill Lichtenstein. It was included in the 1983 20/20 segment "Nuclear Preparation: Can We Survive", featuring 20/20 correspondent Tom Jarriel. Lichtenstein and an ABC camera crew flew over the Mount Weather facility. The news magazine report also included House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill and Representative Ed Markey, confirming that there were contingency plans for the relocation of the United States government in the event of a nuclear war or major disaster.

Mount Weather and the now-deactivated bunker at The Greenbrier were featured in the A&E documentary Bunkers which was first broadcast on October 23, 2001. It features interviews with political and intelligence analysts, engineers comparing The Greenbrier and Mount Weather to the control bunker Saddam Hussein's had which was buried beneath Baghdad, Iraq. Mount Weather was a location in the Netflix series The 100. Mount Weather is mentioned in the 1963 film Seven Days in May as the location from where a coup will be launched.

See also

• Cheyenne Mountain Complex
• Military Auxiliary Radio System
• Raven Rock Mountain Complex
• Warrenton Training Center

References

• Template:Cite journal
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External links

• 1956 FBI memo concerning a "Plan C" emergency readiness exercise involving the High Point Communications Center

• 1962 Mount Weather Operating Documents
• FEMA page on its Mt. Weather operations as saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on March 30, 2005