As attendees streamed toward the exits, jets completed flyovers overhead.
Inside the Ronald Reagan Building, National Guard troops set up seats for spectators clad in red, white and blue and provided free water.
In the hours before the program was set to kick off, spectators reckoned with a triple-digit heat index, with multiple people telling NBC News they witnessed others pass out or experience medical issues.
It is unclear whether Saturday’s event is expected to resume.
Richard Doyle, dressed as Uncle Sam, said he traveled to D.C. from Florida for the Fourth of July celebration.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I figured, you know what, why not?” he said inside the Reagan Building.
Doyle said he was “super excited” to attend, but the program closed before he had a chance to enter. Still, he remained optimistic that the show would go on.
“It’s a little somber, but, you know, everybody’s hot and tired,” he said. “But as soon as the festivities begin again, it’s going to be an amazing event.”
Brian Ragusa, who traveled from California, said despite the weather issues, “we’re having a good time.”
“Everybody’s hot and a little bit miserable at times because of the heat, but it doesn’t kill the joy,” he said. “Not at all.”
Seventeen year old Conly Jackson of Fayetteville, Arkansas said that she waited for about two hours to enter the program, adding, “I completely understand” the event being postponed.
“I think that we’re still going to stay and try and get as much out of the experience as possible,” she said from inside the Reagan Building. “My mom and my friend are leaving tomorrow, so we still want to be able to see all the fireworks, because I heard they’re supposed to be super big and super amazing.”
Aly Thayer, who traveled from Nashville, said the Fourth of July is her favorite holiday and that she was “super bummed that it’s getting rained out.”
“It’s hard to see it not taking place currently, but we’re praying that the rain holds off, the storms move so that we can go back in and enjoy,” she said.
Even before the storm forced the evacuation, attendees reckoned with soaring temperatures, which prompted officials earlier this week to urge people to limit time outdoors. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser activated an extreme heat alert through the weekend.
Attendee Justin Hamm recalled witnessing people experience health emergencies while waiting in the soaring heat ahead of the program for about two hours.
“National Guard people were coming through and helping out people,” he said. “Everybody was helping each other out. A lot of people calling, they said, ‘medic, medic’ for people who were fainting, and so that went on for a little while.”
As attendees waited for word on the program from inside the Reagan Building, attendees broke out in a spontaneous rendition of the National Anthem. Dozens of people joined in, standing up and removing their hats as the room grew silent except for the singing. When it concluded, people cheered and chanted “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.!”
The Fourth of July programming comes amid a weekslong celebration on the National Mall, which was hit with spiking temperatures that forced officials to temporarily shut down the Great American State Fair. Health officials had more than four dozen patient contacts at the program, according to the D.C. Fire Department.
