WASHINGTON (AFP) — A human tidal wave is expected to overwhelm Washington during Barack Obama's presidential inauguration next month, swelling the city's population to as much as four times its normal size, said officials scrambling to deal with the onslaught.
Local authorities were frantically searching for a way to house, feed and transport millions of visitors who hope to witness the January 20 inauguration of Obama, soon to be the country's first black president.
"It's a huge concern because the population of the city is 1.1 million people. This could triple or quadruple the size of the city immediately," said Jim Dinegar, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, a business interest group.
"We are excited about the opportunity to welcome so many people, but we are very careful to say that there are a lot of logistics that need to be worked out in order to accommodate this many people," he told AFP.
More than a month before the event "all of the hotels are sold out ... and every limo within a hundred miles has been rented," Dinegar said.
The turnout for Obama's swearing-in as 44th president is expected to shatter the last record inaugural for John F. Kennedy in 1960, which drew 1.2 million attendees.
By contrast, Bush's inaugurations each drew about 300,000 people, according to Rebecca Pawlowski, a spokeswoman for the group Destination DC, which encourages tourism to the city.
Officials organizing the event said security is a major concern.
"We have seen how he (Obama) can attract crowds," said Special Agent Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman with the US Secret Service, which is tasked with keeping top US politicians, their family members and visiting dignitaries safe.
Wiley said he was skeptical that the numbers would go as high as four million people "but if that many come, we will be prepare to deal with them," he said.
To help accommodate crowds when Obama takes the oath of office becoming the 44th US president, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced earlier this month that the entire length of the National Mall -- the green expanse of parkland stretching 2.5 miles from the Capitol building housing Congress to the Lincoln Memorial -- will be open to the public.
The Mall also will be outfitted with large viewing screens and speakers so that people standing far away from the event can see and hear the oath.
Washington's public transportation system, warns that buses and trains will be packed to capacity.
Bars and restaurants also are likely to be crammed, prompting city officials this month to pass emergency legislation permitting these establishments to extend their hours.
Inauguration frenzy also has sparked a run on hotel rooms, with prices now topping 400 dollars per night, with some demanding a four-night minimum.
Hotels as far away as Richmond, Virginia, one hundred miles (160 kilometers) south of the US capital were raising their rates.
Meanwhile, members of Congress, who are responsible for distributing the 240,000 free tickets for the swearing-in ceremony, have been inundated with requests.
The actual oath-taking in Inauguration Day takes just a few minutes, but the day's agenda is crammed with other activities surrounding the event.
Prior to the oath there is a parade that takes the old and the new president to the ceremony.
After the oath, Obama is to deliver his inaugural address, followed by a luncheon at the US Capitol, followed by another parade.
The pageantry is to be capped off with a night of several Inaugural Balls attended in turn by the newly-sworn president and First Lady Michelle Obama -- yet another set of swearing in events where demand for admission is expected to greatly exceed capacity.
And officials who run the city's subway network already are conceding that they expect to be overtaxed.
"We are not be able to carry two to three million people," said Lisa Farbstein a Metro spokeswoman.
"If you live close enough, you should consider walking," she said.
Otherwise, Farbstein said, frustrated visitors face the unpleasant prospect of "standing on a crowded platform and watch full train after full train" roll by.
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