July 4th Shocker: An Emergency Plan Actually *Works*
So there are big storms rolling in (which is why I’m here, instead of out grilling), and the National Park Police decided to evacuate the Mall. I’d be a little ticked if I were one of those poor sods that arrived at 10am to stake out a primo spot in the shadow of the Washington Monument, but it sounds like the prudent thing to do. So nothing noteworthy there. But then - get this - the evacuation plan actually *worked*. People calmly filed into a number of pre-selected buildings surrounding the Mall, where the plan is to wait until the storm passes, and then make a mad dash for spots on the Mall. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall the last time a Federal emergency response plan anticipated a problem, addressed it adequately, and was then executed correctly. But it happened today. There may yet be blue skies ahead . . .
