Evacuation ordered at National Mall as storms gather ahead of Trump's July 4 speech

By STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press. President Donald Trump's plans to commemorate America's 250th anniversary of independence with a rally on the National Mall were complicated on Saturday by severe storms that gathered near Washington, forcing event organizers to order an evacuation. “Freedom 250 will share updates on programming and doors reopening,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that encouraged participants to seek shelter at museums and federal buildings near the National Mall. Plans for fireworks were still moving forward in other cities including Chicago and New York, where tall ships passed the Statue of Liberty earlier in the day, recalling the fanfare around America's 200th anniversary in 1976. Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own. Organizers of celebrations months in the making had to adjust or cancel activities entirely as much of the East Coast sweltered under heat that approached and in many cases surpassed triple digits. Undeterred, a U.S. Marine from Guinea became a newly minted citizen at George Washington's Mount Vernon in Virginia, wearing a crisp dress uniform and a small smile, while a 7-year-old raced onto a parade route in Brattleboro, Vermont, to snatch a Tootsie Roll. In Louisville, Kentucky, people used a Sharpie equipped with a feather to scribble their signatures on a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The heat gripping the East Coast overshadowed much of the celebrations, particularly in Washington. Signs at the Great American State Fair posted an alert shortly after 7 p.m. encouraging participants to leave the area. As the order to evacuate was played over loudspeakers on the National Mall, some people appeared to be standing in place, talking with those around them and not exiting the area, while others were walking toward exits. National Guard troops told people to leave. The National Mall is an exposed park, though museums and other buildings are near the open, grassy area.