[Mb-civic] Guardian Unlimited: Incoming cloud forces Bush into safe bunker

[harry.sifton at sympatico.ca]

Laughing Harry spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it.

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Note from Laughing Harry:

Beware, be very aware of the scary killer clouds.. haha!
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To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk

Incoming cloud forces Bush into safe bunker
Julian Borger in Washington
Friday April 29 2005
The Guardian


President George Bush was bundled into an underground bunker, Dick Cheney was evacuated to an "undisclosed location" and heavily armed secret servicemen took up defensive positions when a fast-moving cloud scudded towards the White House, it was reported yesterday. 

The cloud that materialised   30 miles south of Washington on Wednesday morning was so dense it triggered radar monitors on the Domestic Events Network, intended to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks.  

As an anti-aircraft missile battery on the roof of a nearby building was raised to the fire position, a Black Hawk helicopter was scrambled to take a look, but saw nothing except   some clouds, one of which turned out to be the suspected aggressor.  

The customs and border protection agency did not return calls seeking comment yesterday, but a spokesman, Gary Bracken, told the Washington Post that a cloud was to blame. "It does happen," he said. "We have to deal with weather anomalies showing up on the radar screen."   

Such false alarms are common, triggered by clouds, flocks of birds or private aircraft wandering off course, but the White House confirmed yesterday that this was not the first time since September 11 2001 that the president has taken refuge in the hi-tech bunker beneath the building, the Presidential Emergency Operations Centre.  

It was not clear yesterday    what it was about Wednesday morning's cloud that created such havoc. It was moving at about the speed of a helicopter, disappearing and then appearing again on the radar screen, but the same could be said of many clouds.  

The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the president was in the bunker for only a short time - the all-clear was sounded about 20 minutes after the first alert. US officials claimed that the incident showed how smoothly the alert system was functioning.   

By federal law since the September 11 attack, air passengers have to remain strapped in their seats within half an hour's flight time of Washington. Private aircraft have also been stopped using the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just across the Potomac river from the Capitol building and the White House, although that ban is expected to be lifted soon. 

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited