Mount Weather
Bluemont, Va. • For civilian government
The president could end up at any of the doomsday facilities, but in general terms Mount Weather is designed to hold the civilian leadership of the US government, including the president, the Supreme Court, Cabinet officials and some senior congressional leaders.
A year after Raven Rock opened its doors, work began on Mount Weather, once an observatory for the Weather Bureau (hence its name) and, for a brief time, Calvin Coolidge’s summer White House home. Tunnels excavated through thousands of tons of greenstone lead to a true underground city that can house thousands of staff. Under JFK’s tenure, the bunker expanded to sewage-treatment plans, reservoirs for drinking water and even its own fire and police departments — all underground.
Mount Weather boasted “extensive computer systems” — including the forerunner to now ubiquitous chat programs like AOL Instant Messenger and Skype, to respond to possible communication crises. Mount Weather also housed a “Survivor’s List” of 6,500 names and addresses of people — government employees and private citizens — viewed as “vital” and key to maintaining “essential and non-interrupted services” in an emergency.
Unlike Raven Rock, Mount Weather has an extensive above-ground facility that FEMA uses for routine staff training and seminars. “There’s even a bar, the Balloon Shed Lounge, the name a nod back to the site’s origins as a weather-balloon launch station,” Graff tells The Post. In 2016, it embarked on “a significant infrastructure upgrade” so the facility is “capable of supporting 21st century technology and current federal departments and agencies’ requirements,” Graff adds.
Mount Weather has been updated after 9/11 because “there’s now a greater focus in government planning on ‘devolution,’ that is, ensuring that backup facilities are always staffed and ready to assume control if the worst happens — rogue states or terror groups today offer more of a threat that a surprise attack on Washington could destroy the capital without warning,” Graff says.