The success of the relocation would depend upon how far in advance warning of an attack was received. īetween 19, the National Gallery of Art developed a program to transport valuable paintings in its collection to Mount Weather via helicopter. Evacuations Īccording 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.
Area B, the underground component, contains 600,000 square feet (56,000 m 2). This measurement includes a training area of unspecified size. The above-ground portion of the FEMA complex (Area A) is at least 434 acres (176 ha). FEMA established training facilities on the mountain's surface ("Area A") in 1979. The underground facility within Mount Weather, designated "Area B", was completed in 1959. Those buildings still stand, supplemented by many more modern buildings. At that time there were just two permanent buildings on the site: the administration/dormitory building, and the laboratory. It was used as a Civilian Public Service facility (Camp #114) during World War II. The site was originally opened as a weather station in the late 1800s. The facility is located near Purcellville, Virginia, 51 miles (82 km) west of Washington, D.C. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, access to the operations center is available via State Route 601 (also called Blueridge Mountain Road) in Bluemont, Virginia. The site was brought into the public eye by The Washington Post, which mentioned the government facility in its coverage following the Decemcrash of TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727 jetliner, into Mount Weather. FNARS allows the president to access the Emergency Alert System. 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. The facility is a major relocation site for the highest level of civilian and military officials in case of national disaster, playing a major role in continuity of government (per the U.S. Also known as the High Point Special Facility ( HPSF), its preferred designation since 1991 is "SF." Commonwealth of Virginia, used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a government command facility in the U.S. Mount Weather, with the Shenandoah Valley in the backgroundįEMA command center, permanent Executive Branch substitute