Road Map Chastening Continues!

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was leaving the White House after his 75-minute meeting with President Bush when a violent storm with wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph hit the White House and the Washington region.
As the very moment Olmert was leaving the West Wing of the White House, the White House press and photographers were running to the press room because of high-winds, lightning and pouring rain.

Olmert's staff was running for their car and van as the downpour began and completely drenched them.
Olmert was under the covering of the porte-cochere at the West Wing entrance and got into his limousine quickly due to the horizontal rains and very strong winds. It rained one to three inches in an hour at the White House and parts of the Washington region.

Up to 500,000 residences and businesses in the Washington region were without power. Power was off at our home for nine hours, and some areas of Washington could be without power for 24 to 48 hours.

A friend who has covered the White House for years said he had never seen a storm hit so quickly with such force, at the very time a head-of-state was leaving.

http://www.watch.org/showart.php3?idx=104855&rtn=/index.html&showsubj=1&mcat=1


D.C. storm kills one, causes power outages

June 5, 2008 at 8:49 AM

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/06/05/dc_storm_kills_one_causes_power_outages/3823/

WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- Two school systems in the Washington area were closed Thursday because of power outages from thunderstorms that moved through the area, leaving one dead.

The storms, carrying high winds and driving rain, belted several Virginia counties near Washington Wednesday and possibly spawned several small tornadoes, The Washington Post reported.

Officials said an Annandale, Va., man was killed when an oak tree smashed into the vehicle in which he was a passenger. The driver was injured.

Downed trees and power lines blocked roads throughout the region, including the nation's capital, officials said.

A congressional hearing was suspended, and Capitol visitors were urged to stay away from windows.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses were without electricity. The outages prompted Montgomery and Prince George's county schools to close Thursday, although high school graduations were still scheduled, The Post reported.

Meanwhile, tornadoes were predicted across the country's midsection Thursday afternoon, AccuWeather.com said.Nearly 400 reports of severe weather were filed Wednesday from the central Plains to the southern mid-Atlantic, forecasters said. More than 45 tornadoes were sighted.The severe weather threat will shift east Friday, as potentially damaging thunderstorms will extend from the western Great Lakes to eastern Oklahoma, AccuWeather.com said.