US town braces for total eclipse crowd problems
DEPOE BAY: Oregon’s Depoe Bay is preparing for the first total eclipse to traverse the continental US in a century as if a natural disaster was bearing down on it.
The small coastal town, home to 1 500 residents and a single traffic light, is near the spot of land where the total eclipse will first appear on August 21 as it begins cutting a path through 14 states to the Atlantic.
That distinction has raised fears that a tidal wave of visitors will descend on Depoe Bay to get a first glimpse of “totality”.
“Totality” is when the moon passes in front of the sun, blotting out its light and exposing the glowing “corona” around its perimeter.
“We’re a double ground zero,” said Pat O’Connell, the owner of a gallery and gift store facing the rocky sea wall, where thousands are expected to gather when the sky darkens and the eclipse comes in to view.
Given Depoe Bay’s proximity to a major geological fault line, mayor Barbara Leff says earthquake and tsunami preparation is second nature to the town’s residents.
“This community has been practising for a major catastrophe for years and years, and a lot of the eclipse preparations in some ways mirror those disaster preparations,” she said. “We’ve been doing what we’re used to doing and hopefully we are all prepared.”
One of the major challenges, Leff says, is anticipating how many people will show up.
The spectacle is the first in 99 years to span the entire continental US, the world’s third most populous nation. It will also be the first total solar eclipse visible from any of the lower 48 states since 1979.
The city’s handful of hotels and camp grounds have been sold out for months and crowd estimates range from thousands to hundreds of thousands.
The city held its first eclipse meeting four years ago at its tiny tworoom City Hall, a former wooden schoolhouse.
Since serious planning began eight months ago, the city has rented portable restrooms, bought a hundred additional rubbish bins, and ordered thousands of protective glasses to be distributed free at the local fire station.
It has also handed out leaflets advising residents to stock up on food, medicine, cash and gas, and prepare for traffic gridlock.
The only way into and out of Depoe Bay is Highway 101, which has only one lane in each direction in the area. Even a minor traffic accident can completely stop traffic, said Depoe Bay fire chief Joshua Williams.
“Our worst case scenario is everybody on the road, stopping, parking on the side of roads, and not having enough access for a fire engine or an ambulance to get down the road to somebody’s emergency,” Williams said.
Normally, only one fire station in the area is staffed, but for the eclipse, firefighters will staff three stations. – Reuters
FEARS THAT A TIDAL WAVE OF VISITORS WILL DESCEND ON DEPOE BAY TO GET A FIRST GLIMPSE OF ‘TOTALITY’