A wide-spread power failure hit the White House as well as a number of federal buildings, the Metro rail system and several areas in Maryland.
Emergency generators kicked in within a matter of seconds at the White House Tuesday afternoon, but State Department officials carried out the daily press briefing in the dark.
Visitors were evacuated from buildings in D.C. including the National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History.
The University of Maryland in College Park also was affected, and there were reports of people trapped in elevators. Firefighters and officers are on the scene.
The outages were reported to extend as far out as St. Mary's and Charles counties in Maryland. St. Mary's police and firefighters reported that traffic lights throughout the county were not working. Charles County authorities said they responded to an explosion at a power plant in Newburg, WJLA reported.
